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There's also a whole range of possibilities between "people don't have a place to live" and "oh, let's build sixteen 8-storey buildings". > these are well bey

There's also a whole range of possibilities between "people don't have a place to live" and "oh, let's build sixteen 8-storey buildings". > these are well beyond the power of someone building a few condos. They are probably within the power, but they really don't care. It's cheaper and faster to build a few apartment blocks in a limited space (usually putting a strain on existing infrastructure — from water and sewage to roads to kindergartens and schools) than to invest in building out. Unfortunately, as I see it in trends around the world, this is what's happening in almost every country. Why create a "master plan to deliver an integrated response" when you can plop down a few apartment buildings and be don with it.

smnrchrds 6y ago
> They are probably within the power, but they really don't care. It's cheaper and faster to build a few apartment blocks in a limited space (usually putting a strain on existing infrastructure — from water and sewage to roads to kindergartens and schools) than to invest in building out. The reason we have gotten to this point is building out instead of up, sprawl instead of vertical expansion. Surely the solution is not more sprawl.
- dmitriid 6y ago
  There's definitely a sweet spot in between.
MarkSweep 6y ago
It’s a chicken and egg problem: why build infrastructure that is not currently needed. And if try to attach the infrastructure construction to the housing construction, it complicates the process. This reduces supply. Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
- dmitriid 6y ago
  > And if try to attach the infrastructure construction to the housing construction, it complicates the process. That's how you end up with public transport overwhelmed, electric grid strained, local schools and kindergartens overflown. Because instead of "attaching infrastructure construction to the housing construction" you just build housing. Lots of it.
  - Lammy 6y ago
    And then there will be a unified voice to fix those issues, versus the reality today where all those things already happen, just only to the poorest and least-represented.
    - dmitriid 6y ago
      > And then there will be a unified voice to fix those issues By then it will already be too late, and you would have to tear down half or more of what has been built just to fix the issues.
michaelt 6y ago
> "oh, let's build sixteen 8-storey buildings" I'm pretty sure an "8-storey 16-unit building" means "a single building, with 16 apartments spread over 8 floors" - not 16 buildings.
- dmitriid 6y ago
  Ah, thank you. Got confused by that. It doesn't sound too bad (but can't say for sure without seeing the actual plan, of course)

smnrchrds 6y ago

> They are probably within the power, but they really don't care. It's cheaper and faster to build a few apartment blocks in a limited space (usually putting a strain on existing infrastructure — from water and sewage to roads to kindergartens and schools) than to invest in building out. The reason we have gotten to this point is building out instead of up, sprawl instead of vertical expansion. Surely the solution is not more sprawl.

dmitriid 6y ago
There's definitely a sweet spot in between.

MarkSweep 6y ago

It’s a chicken and egg problem: why build infrastructure that is not currently needed. And if try to attach the infrastructure construction to the housing construction, it complicates the process. This reduces supply. Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

dmitriid 6y ago
> And if try to attach the infrastructure construction to the housing construction, it complicates the process. That's how you end up with public transport overwhelmed, electric grid strained, local schools and kindergartens overflown. Because instead of "attaching infrastructure construction to the housing construction" you just build housing. Lots of it.
- Lammy 6y ago
  And then there will be a unified voice to fix those issues, versus the reality today where all those things already happen, just only to the poorest and least-represented.
  - dmitriid 6y ago
    > And then there will be a unified voice to fix those issues By then it will already be too late, and you would have to tear down half or more of what has been built just to fix the issues.

michaelt 6y ago

> "oh, let's build sixteen 8-storey buildings" I'm pretty sure an "8-storey 16-unit building" means "a single building, with 16 apartments spread over 8 floors" - not 16 buildings.

dmitriid 6y ago
Ah, thank you. Got confused by that. It doesn't sound too bad (but can't say for sure without seeing the actual plan, of course)