3 ms·

Yeah, zoning is the real story here. Rent control, increasing the cost of most new housing so there is some affordable housing, and similar measures will just w

by posguy 9y ago

Yeah, zoning is the real story here. Rent control, increasing the cost of most new housing so there is some affordable housing, and similar measures will just worsen the problem of a small housing supply. If we remove modern zoning law that restricts the bulk of the city to be low density slum, LA can easily house double its population. A relevant article on affordable housing: https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2017/5/8/immutable-laws-of-affordable-housing https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2017/5/8/immutable-laws-...

zanny 9y ago
You don't just drop zoning laws and expect the problem to fix itself. The bad zoning lead to road planning for the densities that are there (and even then, the densities are beyond what was expected and thus infrastructure is taxed). Fixing LA at this point requires not only bulldozing the sprawl and building higher density but also requires expanded road, sewer, electric, and public transit networks to accommodate. And in this political climate that will simply never happen. Nobody wants to invest in infrastructure anywhere there is already established buildings. They just want to build new, not refurbish old, because its cheaper to do the former, even if it is macroscopically unsustainable and fails to solve the problem.
- posguy 9y ago
  Then you end up with a bunch of really expensive infrastructure in low density neighborhoods, which is really really bad. Cities can't afford to maintain said infrastructure, and you end up like Lafayette, Louisiana[1], or any of the older suburbs in the US. Dezoning and allowing urban areas to densify is the only reasonable way forward. Sure, you won't have every road be a 6 or 8 lane monstrosity like Atlanta, but that is not a bad thing. By densifying our cities, mass transit becomes much more efficient and cost effective, and reduces/eliminates the need and outsized cost of owning a car. 1 - https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2017/1/9/the-real-reason-your-city-has-no-money https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2017/1/9/the-real-reason...

by posguy 9y ago

zanny 9y ago

You don't just drop zoning laws and expect the problem to fix itself. The bad zoning lead to road planning for the densities that are there (and even then, the densities are beyond what was expected and thus infrastructure is taxed). Fixing LA at this point requires not only bulldozing the sprawl and building higher density but also requires expanded road, sewer, electric, and public transit networks to accommodate. And in this political climate that will simply never happen. Nobody wants to invest in infrastructure anywhere there is already established buildings. They just want to build new, not refurbish old, because its cheaper to do the former, even if it is macroscopically unsustainable and fails to solve the problem.

posguy 9y ago
Then you end up with a bunch of really expensive infrastructure in low density neighborhoods, which is really really bad. Cities can't afford to maintain said infrastructure, and you end up like Lafayette, Louisiana[1], or any of the older suburbs in the US. Dezoning and allowing urban areas to densify is the only reasonable way forward. Sure, you won't have every road be a 6 or 8 lane monstrosity like Atlanta, but that is not a bad thing. By densifying our cities, mass transit becomes much more efficient and cost effective, and reduces/eliminates the need and outsized cost of owning a car. 1 - https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2017/1/9/the-real-reason-your-city-has-no-money https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2017/1/9/the-real-reason...