51–60 of 343 posts
Surprised no one here has mentioned that Elon Musk is living in a Boxabl house in Austin, TX. This has totally perplexed the people who follow his every move. https://www.chron.com/news/space/article/elon-musk-texas-hou... I think that he might possibly be doing his homework. Can you imagine a Boxabl house outfitted with a solar roof, a Tesla battery and a Starlink dish? I could see people having a remote cottage not…
Instant ADUs... Great, an easy way to increase the density of suburban neighborhoods that weren't designed for it while enriching wealthy landowners and providing sub-standard housing to the lower class. Shower thought: when will we see a company like Amazon or Costco experiment with providing an entire city, leveraging their efficient production chains and cost-cutting techniques? Would you live in a pre-fab town en…
>providing sub-standard housing to the lower class. Can you elaborate on the problem with this? I don't see how adding an ADU to the market hurts the lower class.
"enriching wealthy landowners and providing sub-standard housing to the lower class"
While I don't think all or most 'average home(land)owners are "wealthy" ' - It is an interesting view to consider - there is an income bracket that could afford these in someone else's backyard - and likely never save enough money for a down-payment on a similar located chunk of suburban land - and being in that spot you may see the average homeowner as being wealthy comparatively.
Just because I read it that way, does not mean that's the way the OP intended it - I dunno what the full though process was. This may simply reflect the cascading experiences I have had and lead me to think of it in that light.
I myself hope that ADUs are a standard option in all zoning across the country and only in rare cases prevented.
I can see positive and negative things coming from increased housing supply in areas, i think it's fair to consider many side effects and consider ways to buffer any negative effects as well.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
If the ADU is sub-standard, then the lower class can choose to not live there. I didn't ask about the density statement, I understand the argument the GP made.
> If the ADU is sub-standard, then the lower class can choose to not live there. Buddy, not for nothing but that sentence could be a textbook definition of a synonym for “Let them eat cake” Are the lower class supposed to use their vast sums of savings to choose more expensive housing? If a 20 year old Toyota Corolla with 200k miles is substandard for them can they simply choose to buy new?
My original question was this: how does adding an ADU to the market hurt the lower class?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> If the ADU is sub-standard, then the lower class can choose to not live there. Buddy, not for nothing but that sentence could be a textbook definition of a synonym for “Let them eat cake” Are the lower class supposed to use their vast sums of savings to choose more expensive housing? If a 20 year old Toyota Corolla with 200k miles is substandard for them can they simply choose to buy new?
I earnestly believe that an ADU (or anything, such as a car) on market provides an option. That is what I was trying to say. My original question was this: how does adding an ADU to the market hurt the lower class?
If you are unaware the mythological story around Marie Antoinette is that when she was told the peasantry could no longer afford bread responded with “let them eat cake” because she did not understand that going above the basics was not a viable option.
The phrasing of your statement combined with the reality of the world came off like you were suggesting the lower class can simply spend more money if they didn’t like the low tier housing, regardless of your actual intent
And then $80k to install between new electrical box, getting raked over the coals by your local water/sewer district, having to build a foundation, stairs from door, etc., etc. And your property taxes will go up.
This comment deserves to be higher. People just think you can put these anywhere but you need water connection, sewer connection, electrical, telephone line/cable, permits and red tape, by the time you're done it'll be double. And I don't think these solve any of our housing affordability problems, the land in a desirable area will be far more expensive than what's on top.
This house is 375 sq ft and uses low end materials, and it doesn't include setup, so it's going to cost ~$100k, or $266 / sq ft. Most new home construction is more like $150 / sq ft. And with this system, you're very limited in what you can build. Who's the target customer for this?
In the same way a lot of products have become cheaper because of some process optimization (packaged more compactly to reduce transportation costs), I'm excited to see modular homes/home 3d-printing etc. play out and become cheaper over time until they are more affordable than convention home construction or somehow unique and better in ways that conventionally constructed homes cannot be. To answer your question, on…
'Person' is the non-gendered word that goes here.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
In the same way a lot of products have become cheaper because of some process optimization (packaged more compactly to reduce transportation costs), I'm excited to see modular homes/home 3d-printing etc. play out and become cheaper over time until they are more affordable than convention home construction or somehow unique and better in ways that conventionally constructed homes cannot be. To answer your question, on…
> (wo)man 'Person' is the non-gendered word that goes here.
This house is 375 sq ft and uses low end materials, and it doesn't include setup, so it's going to cost ~$100k, or $266 / sq ft. Most new home construction is more like $150 / sq ft. And with this system, you're very limited in what you can build. Who's the target customer for this?
People who fall for stuff like Hyperloop. The biggest problem with housing is not the building itself, its the land and the scarcity of it. This is yet another tech 'solution' in search of a problem. And that problem is political, not technical.
INB4: but we're gonna deploy these on Mars!!