Could housing be cheaper and better if we stop building so many staircases?
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Re: Could housing be cheaper and better if we stop building so many staircases?
#2> there’s no evidence that Americans and Canadians are any safer from structure fires than our neighbors around the world
Except, you know, all the tenants above the first floor scrambling for their lives on a single stairwell.
Re: Could housing be cheaper and better if we stop building so many staircases?
#3When the hallway is on fire and the only option is the stairs behind you, I really doubt you'll care about the space 'wasted' on them.
And in response to Grenfell, the argument is tenants don't like fire drills; just wow. Eventually everyone forgets the reason for regulations...is there a named law for this phenomenon?
Re: Could housing be cheaper and better if we stop building so many staircases?
#4> there’s no evidence that Americans and Canadians are any safer from structure fires than our neighbors around the world Except, you know, all the tenants above the first floor scrambling for their lives on a single stairwell.
Can you post some data backing up that assertion? Neither you nor the article have posted any studies and I'm genuinely curious about it.
Re: Could housing be cheaper and better if we stop building so many staircases?
#5When the hallway is on fire and the only option is the stairs behind you, I really doubt you'll care about the space 'wasted' on them. And in response to Grenfell, the argument is tenants don't like fire drills; just wow. Eventually everyone forgets the reason for regulations...is there a named law for this phenomenon?
Is this basically subsidizing a slightly higher survival rate for a relatively few number of fires with a significant loss of space for everyone?
Re: Could housing be cheaper and better if we stop building so many staircases?
#6If you want to save space maybe eliminate the parking lot/garage before you eliminate the extra staircase.
Re: Could housing be cheaper and better if we stop building so many staircases?
#7Here's something that happened one week ago, a perfect (and sad) example of what happens when you only have one set of stairs:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_Osaka_building_fire
> The victims gasped for air and had difficulties escaping, as there was only one escape route, with the emergency stairs and elevators being located outside the clinic.
> Experts were surprised by the fire's high death toll. The authorities are investigating how victims became trapped and the floor filled up with smoke so quickly.
> Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications Yasushi Kaneko ordered the inspection of some 30,000 buildings in Japan that have three or more floors, but only a single stairwell.
Re: Could housing be cheaper and better if we stop building so many staircases?
#8Is it because of the building materials used? I think wood is super common in the US and wood burns easily. If one flat catches fire, all of them do.
Re: Could housing be cheaper and better if we stop building so many staircases?
#9If you want to save space maybe eliminate the parking lot/garage before you eliminate the extra staircase.
Wouldn't that make parking pretty annoying? Anecdotally, at least in SF, lack of parking options set a home's value back pretty far.
Re: Could housing be cheaper and better if we stop building so many staircases?
#10A staircase takes up about the plan size of one bedroom. If that's too much, you're probably trying to cram too many people into a building.
There's efficiency, and then there's, "more people live in this city than can all fit on the sidewalks." Maybe just don't.