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An interesting article on why the mid-rise apartment style is so popular now: "Why America's New Apartment Buildings All Look the Same": https://www.bloomberg.c

by kens 7y ago

An interesting article on why the mid-rise apartment style is so popular now: "Why America's New Apartment Buildings All Look the Same": https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2019-02-13/why-america-s-new-apartment-buildings-all-look-the-same https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2019-02-13/why-ameri... The quick summary is that the 2000 Building Code allowed inexpensive construction of 5-floor wood buildings over a concrete base. This "5 over 1" construction gives "near-high-rise densities at a wood-frame price", so it has become very popular in the US.

PascLeRasc 7y ago
There's something about that style of construction that feels like "Amazon Basics", like what you get when you don't care about craftmanship or longevity and just want the least expensive option. Those 5-story apartment buildings just have such a soulless cheap feeling to them, like they're made to have the illusion of being taller than they are. I really don't understand why they're so popular.
- asdff 7y ago
  They are cheap to build and you can ask for enormous rents, like whatever the top of the market might be you can ask for that, because chances are you are the only apartment in town with fresh smelling paint, new carpet, faux granite, and bundled internet. That's about the only perk of these places. Sometimes they have nice things like a pool, but with how cheap the buildings are, you are going to hear your neighbors above, to the sides, and below you all day. Toured a place like this and noped the fuck out when I heard some dog bark in another unit and it sounded like he was yapping from the bedroom.
- SilasX 7y ago
  Amen. I think I live in such a building (in Austin) now, and the cheapness of the construction shows. I have 15 foot ceilings and I can hear conversations of people above me ... through the side walls.
  - pickle-wizard 7y ago
    After 10 years of living in an apartments and hearing all of my neighbors I got tired of it. So I bought a single family house. I have a small yard, only 1/8th acre, but it is enough of an air gap that I don't hear my neighbors.
    - klipt 7y ago
      Even condo buildings tend to have way better sound proofing than apartments.
    - brandall10 7y ago
      I live in a concrete/glass/steel luxury high-rise in downtown San Diego. My neighbors can have raging parties into the early morning and I can't hear a thing unless I wander into the hallway. The construction quality of multi-family homes in SV pretty poor.
      - panopticon 7y ago
        I've lived in apartment buildings in at least four cities (mostly in the midwest) where I could hear my neighbors doing normal things (i.e., not throwing ragers). It seems be a widespread problem not confined to SV.
        hermitdev 7y ago
        My first post college apartment in the Chicago burbs was awful. Paper thin walls/floors/ceilings. My neighbor below me would file noise complainta against me for watching TV at a volume at which I could barely make out dialog. And, I heard every footstep of the unit above and TV of the neighbors above and below. I dont think anyone was intentionally being loud, was just shoddy construction. I moved out after my first lease expired.
        pas 7y ago
        It's pretty much a thing that happened in the last decades, when building materials and standards became advanced enough that noise became a serious issue. Nowadays codes and trends - at least in parts of Europe - caught up, and soundproofing has became important through the process. (For architects/engineers, developers/builders and buyers/renters.)
- ijpoijpoihpiuoh 7y ago
  Some people don't have the luxury of living in bespoke housing, and legitimately do want a roof over their head for the minimum price possible. Some others are not architecture aficionados, and would prefer to save, even if they could afford "nicer."
  - fkdo 7y ago
    If building codes were increased to force these nicer buildings how much of an increase of rent tenets would see. My understanding is most of the price of housing in West coast cities comes from the value of land, the building permits, and the low supply. How much does construction cost really factor into rent?
- lotsofpulp 7y ago
  > like what you get when you don't care about craftmanship or longevity and just want the least expensive option. You answered your own question. The fund manager of an REIT or developer is looking to maximize ROI, and in the absence of higher quality alternatives, they can afford to build to the lowest specs possible that will still rent. Via 401k(s) and defined benefit pension fund investments, we all are responsible for maximizing for ROI.
- TaylorAlexander 7y ago
  It’s funny. In some places they build nice homes even for the poor. It’s possible. But we’d rather make the cheapest thing possible. The result is people feeling disconnected from the space around them. https://jacobinmag.com/2018/11/beautiful-public-housing-red-vienna-social-housing https://jacobinmag.com/2018/11/beautiful-public-housing-red-...
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
spike021 7y ago
For downtown San Jose they need to be mid-rise since that area is in SJC's flightpath. I don't think they'd have much choice in the matter.
wuliwong 7y ago
I see them being built all over Atlanta. The tell tale concrete base with the wood frames on top. I'm not a city planner or anything but over the last 10 years it seems that a lot of cool neighborhoods with character are being transformed into the same feel with these mid-rises.
nwalker85 7y ago
These things are everywhere in Austin. Thanks for that article, really interesting.
fzeroracer 7y ago
This is unfortunately the free market at play when it comes to housing. Build as cheap as possible for the best ROI, even if the end result is something garbage for residents. Especially because people often don't have as much choice over housing when it comes to finding a job or relocating. We desperately need to tighten up some of our regulatory codes and force better soundproofing.
- pas 7y ago
  Blaming the free market does not seem to make sense here. Soundproofing simply was left out of the code because the buildings of old were sturdy and massive enough to implicitly take care of most of the noise problems. Now new materials and standards are lean enough to conduct sound very well. Oops. Buyers also got wise in the last decade. Now anyone buys or rents the first thing - after location, location, location - is checking how noisy it is. If all housing would have been built by committee, it's just as likely that it'd have taken a lot of time for the committee to change its ways.

by kens 7y ago

PascLeRasc 7y ago

There's something about that style of construction that feels like "Amazon Basics", like what you get when you don't care about craftmanship or longevity and just want the least expensive option. Those 5-story apartment buildings just have such a soulless cheap feeling to them, like they're made to have the illusion of being taller than they are. I really don't understand why they're so popular.

asdff 7y ago
They are cheap to build and you can ask for enormous rents, like whatever the top of the market might be you can ask for that, because chances are you are the only apartment in town with fresh smelling paint, new carpet, faux granite, and bundled internet. That's about the only perk of these places. Sometimes they have nice things like a pool, but with how cheap the buildings are, you are going to hear your neighbors above, to the sides, and below you all day. Toured a place like this and noped the fuck out when I heard some dog bark in another unit and it sounded like he was yapping from the bedroom.
SilasX 7y ago
Amen. I think I live in such a building (in Austin) now, and the cheapness of the construction shows. I have 15 foot ceilings and I can hear conversations of people above me ... through the side walls.
- pickle-wizard 7y ago
  After 10 years of living in an apartments and hearing all of my neighbors I got tired of it. So I bought a single family house. I have a small yard, only 1/8th acre, but it is enough of an air gap that I don't hear my neighbors.
  - klipt 7y ago
    Even condo buildings tend to have way better sound proofing than apartments.
  - brandall10 7y ago
    I live in a concrete/glass/steel luxury high-rise in downtown San Diego. My neighbors can have raging parties into the early morning and I can't hear a thing unless I wander into the hallway. The construction quality of multi-family homes in SV pretty poor.
    - panopticon 7y ago
      I've lived in apartment buildings in at least four cities (mostly in the midwest) where I could hear my neighbors doing normal things (i.e., not throwing ragers). It seems be a widespread problem not confined to SV.
      - hermitdev 7y ago
        My first post college apartment in the Chicago burbs was awful. Paper thin walls/floors/ceilings. My neighbor below me would file noise complainta against me for watching TV at a volume at which I could barely make out dialog. And, I heard every footstep of the unit above and TV of the neighbors above and below. I dont think anyone was intentionally being loud, was just shoddy construction. I moved out after my first lease expired.
      - pas 7y ago
        It's pretty much a thing that happened in the last decades, when building materials and standards became advanced enough that noise became a serious issue. Nowadays codes and trends - at least in parts of Europe - caught up, and soundproofing has became important through the process. (For architects/engineers, developers/builders and buyers/renters.)
ijpoijpoihpiuoh 7y ago
Some people don't have the luxury of living in bespoke housing, and legitimately do want a roof over their head for the minimum price possible. Some others are not architecture aficionados, and would prefer to save, even if they could afford "nicer."
- fkdo 7y ago
  If building codes were increased to force these nicer buildings how much of an increase of rent tenets would see. My understanding is most of the price of housing in West coast cities comes from the value of land, the building permits, and the low supply. How much does construction cost really factor into rent?
lotsofpulp 7y ago
> like what you get when you don't care about craftmanship or longevity and just want the least expensive option. You answered your own question. The fund manager of an REIT or developer is looking to maximize ROI, and in the absence of higher quality alternatives, they can afford to build to the lowest specs possible that will still rent. Via 401k(s) and defined benefit pension fund investments, we all are responsible for maximizing for ROI.
TaylorAlexander 7y ago
It’s funny. In some places they build nice homes even for the poor. It’s possible. But we’d rather make the cheapest thing possible. The result is people feeling disconnected from the space around them. https://jacobinmag.com/2018/11/beautiful-public-housing-red-vienna-social-housing https://jacobinmag.com/2018/11/beautiful-public-housing-red-...
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

spike021 7y ago

For downtown San Jose they need to be mid-rise since that area is in SJC's flightpath. I don't think they'd have much choice in the matter.

wuliwong 7y ago

I see them being built all over Atlanta. The tell tale concrete base with the wood frames on top. I'm not a city planner or anything but over the last 10 years it seems that a lot of cool neighborhoods with character are being transformed into the same feel with these mid-rises.

nwalker85 7y ago

These things are everywhere in Austin. Thanks for that article, really interesting.

fzeroracer 7y ago

This is unfortunately the free market at play when it comes to housing. Build as cheap as possible for the best ROI, even if the end result is something garbage for residents. Especially because people often don't have as much choice over housing when it comes to finding a job or relocating. We desperately need to tighten up some of our regulatory codes and force better soundproofing.

pas 7y ago
Blaming the free market does not seem to make sense here. Soundproofing simply was left out of the code because the buildings of old were sturdy and massive enough to implicitly take care of most of the noise problems. Now new materials and standards are lean enough to conduct sound very well. Oops. Buyers also got wise in the last decade. Now anyone buys or rents the first thing - after location, location, location - is checking how noisy it is. If all housing would have been built by committee, it's just as likely that it'd have taken a lot of time for the committee to change its ways.