5 ms·
"housing policy that enables massive amounts of new houses to be built" I think you mean "new homes". I don't think there's anywhere in the US with a housing
by swimfar 6y ago
"housing policy that enables massive amounts of new houses to be built"
I think you mean "new homes". I don't think there's anywhere in the US with a housing crisis is due to new houses not being allowed. It's usually due to the difficulty in tearing down houses (and low-density apartments) and building higher density apartments. This may seem pedantic, but in these discussions the distinction is important. In almost every housing-related thread on HN, I see people using them interchangeably, in ways that are confusing.
- jefftk 6y agoI'm not sure what distinction you're getting at? I'm in Somerville Massachusetts, houses are very expensive, and the land is all built out. If you tore down a house, you would not be able to build as large a house in its place, in almost all circumstances. You definitely couldn't build a bigger one. What are you trying to get at with "new houses" versus "new homes"?
- cortesoft 6y agoYou could if you built a multistory apartment complex.
- my_username_is_ 6y agoMost housing in Somerville, and lots of the urban northeast, is made up of multistory apartments (sometimes referred to as "three deckers")
- cortesoft 6y agoYou can always build higher!
- jefftk 6y agoI see, you're using "new houses" to mean new buildings, and "new homes" to mean new units.
- toomuchtodo 6y agoAnything over 5 stories gets expensive per sq ft quick.
- jefftk 6y agoEven five stories would let you get about double a density we have today. The typical Somerville home is two full stories and half a third story. If it were legal to build much taller, though, I do think people would be happy to do that next to the subway stations. Yes, the cost goes up, but people are very interested in living right next to the station.
- an_opabinia 6y agoIt’s funny because barely any houses in Somerville are up to code. It’s like less than 5%. So the regulations have achieved a double nothing.
- jefftk 6y agoThe regulations came into place after Somerville was almost entirely built out. What they achieved was preventing additional building, which may or may not have been the intent.