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Has LA cracked the code for building affordable housing?

benjaminschneider.substack.com

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Re: Has LA cracked the code for building affordable housing?

#31

Post by [deleted] »

readthenotes1 wrote: post #11
pas wrote: post #5

> approving more units through this program in the last 13 months than all affordable housing approved in previous three years combined — without dedicating any additional subsidy. oh, so it was NIMBYs all along!? pikatchu face

That's not what I read from the article. Instead it seemed to be fairly arbitrary government regulations such as required shrubbery and facade articulation that make the cost of building prohibitively expensive. Now, you may be saying it's NIMBY for the LA government to require unnecessary (or mildly necessary) stuff to keep the neighborhoods beautiful, but it's I'd guess it's probably more "just because I can means…

[deleted]

Re: Has LA cracked the code for building affordable housing?

#32

Post by crooked-v »

cyberax wrote: post #23

[flagged]

> higher housing costs

The basic reason for skyrocketing housing costs in major California cities is that there aren't enough housing units for the number of people living there. The solution to that is... ... ... denser housing.

Re: Has LA cracked the code for building affordable housing?

#33

Post by pas »

readthenotes1 wrote: post #11
pas wrote: post #5

> approving more units through this program in the last 13 months than all affordable housing approved in previous three years combined — without dedicating any additional subsidy. oh, so it was NIMBYs all along!? pikatchu face

That's not what I read from the article. Instead it seemed to be fairly arbitrary government regulations such as required shrubbery and facade articulation that make the cost of building prohibitively expensive. Now, you may be saying it's NIMBY for the LA government to require unnecessary (or mildly necessary) stuff to keep the neighborhoods beautiful, but it's I'd guess it's probably more "just because I can means…

I think the main point is the fast-tracking. Developers don't care if they need to add some landscaping to the whole thing, it just makes things more expensive in the end. What they care about is they don't want to start working on projects that then sit in drawers for years.

Of course "LA cracked" nothing, because the construction industry is in absolute shambles. It basically regressed into this cutesy artisanal nonsense, delivering a lot of single family homes (from the ugliest flimsiest Florida-grade paper-thin boxes to the enormous McMansions), and a few fancy high-rises.

Because there's nothing industrial in much of construction. It's one-off bespoke custom things with their separate paperwork. About as productive as wrapping rice by the grain.

Re: Has LA cracked the code for building affordable housing?

#34

Post by zozbot234 »

cyberax wrote: post #23

[flagged]

If your dense housing leads to higher housing costs that's actually great news; it means that your city is enabling higher-productivity arrangements that boost local incomes, and all the concern about "lowering property values" was 100% bunk. That's the pattern you see in places like Manhattan. Wouldn't it be nice if most people in the U.S. had a bunch of Manhattan-level cities in their state that they could easily move to if they wished?

> Want truly affordable housing? Bring jobs to smaller cities. You don't have ANY other option.

Want big houses and cars? Bring good jobs to smaller cities, that still have little need for density. That's a pretty natural pattern of development. But the really high incomes will most likely still come from the very densest places, where people willingly put up with tradeoffs like living in a smaller place and doing without a car, because they're actually a lot better than the alternative.

Re: Has LA cracked the code for building affordable housing?

#35

Post by gotaran »

cyberax wrote: post #17

I'll save you a click: no. Here's the thing: housing in dense cities will NEVER be affordable. Never. What happened recently (and is happening in other cities like Seattle) is companies pivoting from building "luxury" crappy condos to sweet state-subsdizied housing. These kinds of projects are great for them, they don't need to care about the market demand.

I loved the “luxury” techbro condos of Seattle. I’d take a cookie cutter glassbox any day over my disgusting Manhattan prewar.

Re: Has LA cracked the code for building affordable housing?

#37

Post by apsurd »

robomartin wrote: post #28

Making things affordable in LA will be easy. Almost everyone I know is either in the process of leaving CA or planning on leaving. This includes everything from middle-class individuals to high-net-worth families, soon-to-retire and retired. Everyone is sick of the financially abusive environment in CA, at every level. And, of course, other issues. My wife and I are so sick of it that it has become an almost weekly c…

I hear you. There's definitely a stur up going on these days.

> When we go, we will take three businesses and as many of the people working for us as possible out of CA. Logistically, it is far more likely that the move will happen within the US, of course.

I'm replying because this is just the tiny vocal minority. California is fucking BEAUTIFUL. People will want to live here until CA breaks off and sinks into the ocean from a major earthquake. Plenty of people. It's a non-issue.

disclaimer: born and raised CA kid. I hate that the West is so car centric. There's much to love about other places. But there is no place like CA.

Re: Has LA cracked the code for building affordable housing?

#38

Post by crooked-v »

pas wrote: post #33
readthenotes1 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not what I read from the article. Instead it seemed to be fairly arbitrary government regulations such as required shrubbery and facade articulation that make the cost of building prohibitively expensive. Now, you may be saying it's NIMBY for the LA government to require unnecessary (or mildly necessary) stuff to keep the neighborhoods beautiful, but it's I'd guess it's probably more "just because I can means…

I think the main point is the fast-tracking. Developers don't care if they need to add some landscaping to the whole thing, it just makes things more expensive in the end. What they care about is they don't want to start working on projects that then sit in drawers for years. Of course "LA cracked" nothing, because the construction industry is in absolute shambles. It basically regressed into this cutesy artisanal no…

> delivering a lot of single family homes [...] and a few fancy high-rises

Yes, because it turns out that local zoning and permitting in most major US cities makes everything else nonprofitable. Construction companies will build what is effective to build.

Change those local rules, as in the article, and suddenly lots of companies rush in to build that middle-density housing as soon as they can actually make any money doing so.

Re: Has LA cracked the code for building affordable housing?

#39

Post by [deleted] »

cyberax wrote: post #17

I'll save you a click: no. Here's the thing: housing in dense cities will NEVER be affordable. Never. What happened recently (and is happening in other cities like Seattle) is companies pivoting from building "luxury" crappy condos to sweet state-subsdizied housing. These kinds of projects are great for them, they don't need to care about the market demand.

[deleted]

Re: Has LA cracked the code for building affordable housing?

#40

Post by odysseus »

cyberax wrote: post #17

I'll save you a click: no. Here's the thing: housing in dense cities will NEVER be affordable. Never. What happened recently (and is happening in other cities like Seattle) is companies pivoting from building "luxury" crappy condos to sweet state-subsdizied housing. These kinds of projects are great for them, they don't need to care about the market demand.

Almost always, when headlines end in a question mark, the answer is no.
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