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This is true that gentrification is a problem with increased demand that is not meet with an increase of supply, but untrue in it's solution. You can't infinit

This is true that gentrification is a problem with increased demand that is not meet with an increase of supply, but untrue in it's solution. You can't infinitely scale up the supply for the same plots of land. You can't even 10x it. Also, this entirely ignores what to do with the people and properties of the area that is being gentrified. I see this opinion far too often from people who have never studied urban planning and development. It smells like of those 'I took an econ 101 class, let me tell you how the world works' kind of opinions.

nickff 6y ago
You can't increase it infinitely, but you can increase it a lot. Single family homes are 4-10 units/acre, townhomes are 20-40 units, and apartments are 50-100. Here is one of my favorite illustrations: http://densityatlas.org/measuring/far.shtml http://densityatlas.org/measuring/far.shtml Another nice one: https://twitter.com/euanmills/status/969132807548260352/photo/1 https://twitter.com/euanmills/status/969132807548260352/phot...
- AlexTWithBeard 6y ago
  So... what should we do? Kick these "single families" out of their homes, because they take too much space in such a sought-after area?
  - nickff 6y ago
    When you allow higher density, the land values increase, and people 'volunteer' their homes for development.
    - temp-dude-87844 6y ago
      In this scenario, existing homeowners volunteer to be bought out and move away, removing themselves from the community. Existing landlords volunteer to be bought out, and kick out their renters, leaving them to move away and remove themselves from the community. These homes are demolished and the lots become a construction site for 6-18 months, then the freshly built housing goes to rent or sale at market rate. When they're occupied, they will be filled by newcomers to the community. You look back at this neighborhood in five years. Wouldn't you consider it to have gentrified?
      - nickff 6y ago
        I would consider the housing stock to be modernized. Whether the neighborhood has been gentrified is more a question of how affordable and appealing it remains to the 'original' residents.
    - hellisothers 6y ago
      If you razed a SFH in a SFH neighborhood and put in its place a 10 unit complex the surrounding home values would absolutely go down. Values would only eventually go up in the long run as the whole area is turned into dense housing and there are holdout SFH in the area. I thought we were past framing the discussion in terms of increase/decrease in value. NIMBYs (generally) aren’t against it because it’ll lower value and bringing high density housing doesn’t increase value (except in the extreme long run).
- i_love_limes 6y ago
  Of course I agree that high density housing is a great for cities. But I think you have conveniently forgot that this thread is about gentrification of existing communities, and not about Greenfield developments.
  - nickff 6y ago
    Relatively few apartment buildings are built as greenfield developments; they are usually built on the former sites of townhomes or single-family houses. This still represents a huge increase in supply.
    - milkytron 6y ago
      This is one of the things I love about the area I moved to. There's a train station nearby, but there was a lot of open area as well. We are also in an opportunity zone. Within the last couple years, construction has started for over 1000 housing units on all greenfield sites (except one of the 200+ unit complexes which was on a single family lot). I'm not sure if the term gentrification applies here, but I'm really hoping it turns into a nice little transit oriented development. Construction is still ongoing, so we'll see. This is all within 4 miles of downtown Denver. Edit: I'm aware this will likely create more demand for the area, and might cause some displacement, but seeing that development is taking place around a transit station, on green/brownfield sites, and nearby an urban core gives me some hope regarding city planning.

nickff 6y ago

You can't increase it infinitely, but you can increase it a lot. Single family homes are 4-10 units/acre, townhomes are 20-40 units, and apartments are 50-100. Here is one of my favorite illustrations: http://densityatlas.org/measuring/far.shtml http://densityatlas.org/measuring/far.shtml Another nice one: https://twitter.com/euanmills/status/969132807548260352/photo/1 https://twitter.com/euanmills/status/969132807548260352/phot...

AlexTWithBeard 6y ago
So... what should we do? Kick these "single families" out of their homes, because they take too much space in such a sought-after area?
- nickff 6y ago
  When you allow higher density, the land values increase, and people 'volunteer' their homes for development.
  - temp-dude-87844 6y ago
    In this scenario, existing homeowners volunteer to be bought out and move away, removing themselves from the community. Existing landlords volunteer to be bought out, and kick out their renters, leaving them to move away and remove themselves from the community. These homes are demolished and the lots become a construction site for 6-18 months, then the freshly built housing goes to rent or sale at market rate. When they're occupied, they will be filled by newcomers to the community. You look back at this neighborhood in five years. Wouldn't you consider it to have gentrified?
    - nickff 6y ago
      I would consider the housing stock to be modernized. Whether the neighborhood has been gentrified is more a question of how affordable and appealing it remains to the 'original' residents.
  - hellisothers 6y ago
    If you razed a SFH in a SFH neighborhood and put in its place a 10 unit complex the surrounding home values would absolutely go down. Values would only eventually go up in the long run as the whole area is turned into dense housing and there are holdout SFH in the area. I thought we were past framing the discussion in terms of increase/decrease in value. NIMBYs (generally) aren’t against it because it’ll lower value and bringing high density housing doesn’t increase value (except in the extreme long run).
i_love_limes 6y ago
Of course I agree that high density housing is a great for cities. But I think you have conveniently forgot that this thread is about gentrification of existing communities, and not about Greenfield developments.
- nickff 6y ago
  Relatively few apartment buildings are built as greenfield developments; they are usually built on the former sites of townhomes or single-family houses. This still represents a huge increase in supply.
  - milkytron 6y ago
    This is one of the things I love about the area I moved to. There's a train station nearby, but there was a lot of open area as well. We are also in an opportunity zone. Within the last couple years, construction has started for over 1000 housing units on all greenfield sites (except one of the 200+ unit complexes which was on a single family lot). I'm not sure if the term gentrification applies here, but I'm really hoping it turns into a nice little transit oriented development. Construction is still ongoing, so we'll see. This is all within 4 miles of downtown Denver. Edit: I'm aware this will likely create more demand for the area, and might cause some displacement, but seeing that development is taking place around a transit station, on green/brownfield sites, and nearby an urban core gives me some hope regarding city planning.