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Boston mayor announces residential conversion program for office buildings

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Re: Boston mayor announces residential conversion program for office buildings

#231
post #209
post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love to sleep in darkness. Stayed at an Airbnb with a windowless bedroom. Best sleep I ever had.

Second, would pay extra for that

Have you guys tried blackout curtains?

Re: Boston mayor announces residential conversion program for office buildings

#232
post #204

There was a cool OddLots episode recently where they talked to a guy who does Office to Residential work and some of the complexity. One thing he talked about, which I didn't know anyone did, was to actually cut through the ceiling/floorplate of buildings to basically "donut" them. This is necessary because many office floorplans are huge with modern HVAC and when converted into residential you end up with either und…

Why not put edge datacentres in the middle? They could provide heating to perimeter apartments in cold climates and just imagine the ping!

I love this idea!

Re: Boston mayor announces residential conversion program for office buildings

#233
post #90

There was a cool OddLots episode recently where they talked to a guy who does Office to Residential work and some of the complexity. One thing he talked about, which I didn't know anyone did, was to actually cut through the ceiling/floorplate of buildings to basically "donut" them. This is necessary because many office floorplans are huge with modern HVAC and when converted into residential you end up with either und…

It's against narrative, but this is one of the ways SF's downtown is actually extremely well positioned, assuming the trend of office conversions actually takes off. SF floorplates are usually tiny due to historic biases of our Planning Commission (the dog whistle used to be 'we don't want a skyline of cereal boxes'). In fact, looking at the data [0] most of SF's residential tower floorplates are bigger than SF's off…

In addition, as climate change affects more and more places, I think SF will be the winner. It maintains a naturally air conditioned 65 degrees all summer long during a decade that has seen even Portland Oregon go into the high triple digits.

Don't sleep on San Francisco.

Re: Boston mayor announces residential conversion program for office buildings

#234
post #5

I think this is fantastic. Boston desperately needs more housing. Let's get some increased funding for the T as well while we are at it.

What is T ? google isnt helping.

The T is the nickname for Boston's MBTA (Train/bus)....The logo is a big "T".

Re: Boston mayor announces residential conversion program for office buildings

#236
post #5

I think this is fantastic. Boston desperately needs more housing. Let's get some increased funding for the T as well while we are at it.

What is T ? google isnt helping.

MBTA -- Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. The public transit agency in Boston. Their logo is an iconic black "T" so that's what everyone here calls the subway.

Re: Boston mayor announces residential conversion program for office buildings

#237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So many awful things in America are the legacy of slavery and racism, and now it's all coming together to make the country an unlivable mess.

A little hyperbolic there my friend.

I agree. Life is possible in America. Just not particularly pleasant.

Re: Boston mayor announces residential conversion program for office buildings

#238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most office buildings are not architecturally feasible to convert to residential. In fact, because of zoning laws, many/most can't even be converted. Would you live in an apartment 15 feet wide and 50 feet deep? No. That's why most office buildings dont work You have to redo all the mechanical, plumbing, electric, and then entirely refinish the building. Its literally cheaper to build new than deal with the nightmare…

> Would you live in an apartment 15 feet wide and 50 feet deep? Yes, if that's the alternative to being enslaved for life. How can people still not understand that there is a massive part of the population who need to be able to purchase their living space to not have to rent for life or take on life-long debt that they can't afford. How can people not understand this? Yes, it's better for a young worker to be able t…

I definitely agree about this ownership vs rental dynamic and my first property was a long and narrow townhouse with 1 wall of windows and a couple of tiny ones on the other side (probably closer to more 25 x 75). My concern with these conversion proposals is that they will only be for rent and not ownership and that they will be priced the same as everything else…too damn high.

Re: Boston mayor announces residential conversion program for office buildings

#239

There was a cool OddLots episode recently where they talked to a guy who does Office to Residential work and some of the complexity. One thing he talked about, which I didn't know anyone did, was to actually cut through the ceiling/floorplate of buildings to basically "donut" them. This is necessary because many office floorplans are huge with modern HVAC and when converted into residential you end up with either und…

Maybe I'd think differently if I actually saw the footprint of a large office building, but I'm thinking...

My house has a basement and a garage, which are not approved as living space, and don't have proper windows or egress. Would it solve the problem to let the interior portions of buildings be designated as storage and utility space?

I'd love to have more space for bikes and musical instruments. ;-)

Re: Boston mayor announces residential conversion program for office buildings

#240
post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not put edge datacentres in the middle? They could provide heating to perimeter apartments in cold climates and just imagine the ping!

I love this idea!

Me too. Make it happen. Free 100 GbE all around.
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