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I think we are talking past each other. When you said “The supply in walkable areas will, by near definition, be lower than places you have to drive to.“ I int

by mulmen 5y ago

I think we are talking past each other. When you said “The supply in walkable areas will, by near definition, be lower than places you have to drive to.“ I interpreted that to mean there is less total supply. You seem to be speaking to available supply. > What places are we talking about that are a) highly walkable, b) expensive, and c) not at capacity? I don’t think there is such a place. If a place is walkable it is going to be at or near capacity which makes it expensive. The lack of these areas seems to be a result of an unwillingness to increase density.

taeric 5y ago
I was meaning it in terms of purchasable supply. Nothing is stopping anyone from building a new city center in the middle of Montana, such that it has plenty of buildable supply. That is, you can say that dense cities are more effecient, but that only matters if you can build another one. Otherwise, there are more affordable homes further from existing city center then there are in them. And that is going to be hard to change. You seem to be pointing that existing cities should double down on their density. I'm claiming if that was such a clear path to success, it would be done in new places. I do suspect there is a mix of both.
- mulmen 5y ago
  > Nothing is stopping anyone from building a new city center in the middle of Montana, such that it has plenty of buildable supply. I don’t think it is that easy. The state has to approve a new town. I don’t think you can just create one at will. Nearby landowners are certainly going to have opinions. > You seem to be pointing that existing cities should double down on their density. Ideally, yes. But really I am saying they can’t because zoning laws prevent it. Existing home owners favor this constraint because it keeps prices up.
  - taeric 5y ago
    I think it is easier than you'd think to get a builder to build a neighborhood. Convincing mixed zoning to move in is more difficult. Largely due to how confusing store ownership is. Often the buildings need to exist and be owned before businesses look to lease in places. None of which is to say I disagree with zoning being problematic. I fully agree with that points. I just think it is oversold. Folks like having room, and folks are typically over afraid of letting kids play in parks on their own. (I can't really argue against some of that fear... :( )
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]

by mulmen 5y ago

taeric 5y ago

I was meaning it in terms of purchasable supply. Nothing is stopping anyone from building a new city center in the middle of Montana, such that it has plenty of buildable supply. That is, you can say that dense cities are more effecient, but that only matters if you can build another one. Otherwise, there are more affordable homes further from existing city center then there are in them. And that is going to be hard to change. You seem to be pointing that existing cities should double down on their density. I'm claiming if that was such a clear path to success, it would be done in new places. I do suspect there is a mix of both.

mulmen 5y ago
> Nothing is stopping anyone from building a new city center in the middle of Montana, such that it has plenty of buildable supply. I don’t think it is that easy. The state has to approve a new town. I don’t think you can just create one at will. Nearby landowners are certainly going to have opinions. > You seem to be pointing that existing cities should double down on their density. Ideally, yes. But really I am saying they can’t because zoning laws prevent it. Existing home owners favor this constraint because it keeps prices up.
- taeric 5y ago
  I think it is easier than you'd think to get a builder to build a neighborhood. Convincing mixed zoning to move in is more difficult. Largely due to how confusing store ownership is. Often the buildings need to exist and be owned before businesses look to lease in places. None of which is to say I disagree with zoning being problematic. I fully agree with that points. I just think it is oversold. Folks like having room, and folks are typically over afraid of letting kids play in parks on their own. (I can't really argue against some of that fear... :( )
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]