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In the case of the Bay Area, where are these new homes for high income buyers supposed to go? There isn't a whole lot of green field space left to develop into

In the case of the Bay Area, where are these new homes for high income buyers supposed to go? There isn't a whole lot of green field space left to develop into new, high-end, homes, so that the old homes can filter down. Silicon Valley, by-and-large, has always zoned for lots of cheap office space to keep light industrial rents cheap, in order to create jobs and reap the resulting tax revenue. But it has created an imbalance. Really, if you believe the thesis of this article, the only solution is to declare Sili Valley (and the peninsula) "full", or maybe even overflowing. Then rezone some industrial areas, bulldoze them, and build McMansions. Oh wait, industrial rents will go up and companies will move out or start elsewhere. It is hard to have it both ways.

eru 11y ago
The solution is, of course, to build higher. Eg even the plentiful office zoning could become even more plentiful by building higher. The new homes for high income buyers could come as part of a tower where there was only a single home earlier. Density, not McMansions. Rich people, by and large, seem happy enough to live in `luxury condos' stacked on top of each other. (Or at least enough rich people are happy to stack to drive demand.)
- mjevans 11y ago
  //Lots// (flood the market with) of luxury condos and apartments and hotels (for long, medium, and short duration living). Extensive design validation, solid construction, not cutting corners to badly, generally actually build them to last. Plan for maintenance to happen during the building's lifetime. * Have a 'car/dog wash' area in... * A parking garage with room to actually park cars for families. * Actually acoustically isolate rooms (even within the same unit) for privacy. * Design ventilation paths that route 'waste' air away from /all/ residence windows. * If you aren't going to hard-ban smokers from occupying residence within the building, make sure that there are designated smoking areas on each floor. (A scrubbed exhaust room).
  - eru 11y ago
    That looks like a sketch of a decent business plan. I hope you didn't mean it as a suggestion for legislation?
nedwin 11y ago
If we fixed zoning/planning in SF at least you could build new homes / apartments on lots that already have buildings on them. You don't need greenfield space. More relaxed zoning, including things like the density bonus, could mean turning lots that have 1, 2 or 3 residencies on them into 10++ units.
burfog 11y ago
San Francisco owns a big chunk of the bay. They could fill it in. With proper construction, earthquake-induced ground liquification is of no concern. (build like a boat) If you really want "green field" space, of course there is that too. Golden Gate Park is huge. The Presido is huge.

eru 11y ago

The solution is, of course, to build higher. Eg even the plentiful office zoning could become even more plentiful by building higher. The new homes for high income buyers could come as part of a tower where there was only a single home earlier. Density, not McMansions. Rich people, by and large, seem happy enough to live in `luxury condos' stacked on top of each other. (Or at least enough rich people are happy to stack to drive demand.)

mjevans 11y ago
//Lots// (flood the market with) of luxury condos and apartments and hotels (for long, medium, and short duration living). Extensive design validation, solid construction, not cutting corners to badly, generally actually build them to last. Plan for maintenance to happen during the building's lifetime. * Have a 'car/dog wash' area in... * A parking garage with room to actually park cars for families. * Actually acoustically isolate rooms (even within the same unit) for privacy. * Design ventilation paths that route 'waste' air away from /all/ residence windows. * If you aren't going to hard-ban smokers from occupying residence within the building, make sure that there are designated smoking areas on each floor. (A scrubbed exhaust room).
- eru 11y ago
  That looks like a sketch of a decent business plan. I hope you didn't mean it as a suggestion for legislation?

nedwin 11y ago

If we fixed zoning/planning in SF at least you could build new homes / apartments on lots that already have buildings on them. You don't need greenfield space. More relaxed zoning, including things like the density bonus, could mean turning lots that have 1, 2 or 3 residencies on them into 10++ units.

burfog 11y ago

San Francisco owns a big chunk of the bay. They could fill it in. With proper construction, earthquake-induced ground liquification is of no concern. (build like a boat) If you really want "green field" space, of course there is that too. Golden Gate Park is huge. The Presido is huge.