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Because the cost to create a unit makes them high end from the start. You have to add fire suppression systems, elevators, seismic reinforced construction and
by adrr 8y ago
Because the cost to create a unit makes them high end from the start. You have to add fire suppression systems, elevators, seismic reinforced construction and pay for the land. NPR had a segment on it, listing the costs to build a modern day high rise unit and it there is no way to build it for low-income housing and make a profit. Even if given the land, at most it is break-even.
Low income would have to rely on housing that wasn't new. Kinda like cars, it wouldn't make sense to have car manufacturers to try to create a sub $10k car when you require air bags, backup cameras, tire pressure monitors etc.
- ip26 8y agoWhere has the middle gone? Is it either extreme luxury or low income assistance?
- DuskStar 8y agoThe middle is old luxury housing.
- ip26 8y agoIs that a unique SV situation? Where I live, most new housing is close to or only slightly above general market price for the corresponding market segment (e.g. 2br condo, 3br SFH, etc). It usually seems to come with pretty ordinary trappings- ordinary countertops, ordinary fixtures, maybe the floors are laminate, etc. Luxury appointment can be found, but nobody's building five hundred units with gold inlay.