5 ms·
> The walkability comes at the cost of tiny housing though. You might have your correlation/causation things mixed up. Walkability means higher quality of life
by nuerow 5y ago
> The walkability comes at the cost of tiny housing though.
You might have your correlation/causation things mixed up. Walkability means higher quality of life, which means higher demand thus higher prices. In turn, as real estate prices go up, real estate developers are pressured to provide more houses from a limited construction area, thus this means shrinking apartment sizes.
Offering smaller apartments also has the advantage of increasing price per unit of area, while keeping selling prices within reach of the market segment you're targeting, i.e., you might not afford 1M for a house with 200m² but you might afford 500m for a house with 100m².
- Pxtl 5y agoWalkability demands density, and density intrinsically is encouraged by smaller units. Now, obviously the economic factor you describe can exacerbate this, but fundamentally dense walkable neighborhoods can't have the kind of sprawly mcmansions some people have grown comfortable with in suburbia.
- throw0101a 5y ago> Walkability demands density, and density intrinsically is encouraged by smaller units. You can have sizeable homes even in walkable neighbourhoods. Look at any suburb constructed pre-WW2: * https://www.google.com/maps/place/150+Geoffrey+St,+Toronto,+ON https://www.google.com/maps/place/150+Geoffrey+St,+Toronto,+... * https://www.google.com/maps/place/150+Westminster+Ave,+Toronto,+ON https://www.google.com/maps/place/150+Westminster+Ave,+Toron... * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streetcar_suburb https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streetcar_suburb You still have a (back)yard and can have a garage attached to a laneway. Just up the street there are more modestly sized houses (3 bedrooms usually): * https://www.google.com/maps/place/50+Geoffrey+St,+Toronto,+ON https://www.google.com/maps/place/50+Geoffrey+St,+Toronto,+O...
- Pxtl 5y agoI live in exactly that kind of pre-war streetcar suburb and yes, I've heard suburbanites complain that the houses in these neighborhoods are too small and narrow and lack attached garages. So yes, even the moderate walkability created by streetcar suburbs is still requires a shift to noticeably smaller homes for many North Americans acclimatized to sprawl.
- lozenge 5y agoYou have it mixed up. Firstly, walkability only means higher prices if supply is limited. If it's the default, then supply matches demand. Secondly, a grocery store needs say 500 potential customers (households) within walking/transit distance. A cafe 2,000. A specialist shop 5,000. Otherwise they need parking for customers arriving by car, which takes up yet more space, making the area less walkable, inducing more car demand and car lanes, etc. The same calculation applies to schools, parks and other amenities. It isn't possible to reach those customer numbers while giving each family American suburbia levels of space.
- nuerow 5y ago> Firstly, walkability only means higher prices if supply is limited. Isn't it, though? In fact, not only is it limited, it's also a market on the supply side. > Secondly, a grocery store needs say 500 potential customers (households) within walking/transit distance. In consolidated urban areas with medium density occupation, such as city centers in pretty much any relatively large European city, you already have multiple supermarkets at a stone's throw. In some places like Madrid some suburban areas even have multiple supermarkets on the same apartment block.