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That's true, but it's also the case that most Canadians (and Americans) would be very dissatisfied with the quality of Japanese housing. Frankly it's crap -- th

That's true, but it's also the case that most Canadians (and Americans) would be very dissatisfied with the quality of Japanese housing. Frankly it's crap -- thin walls, single-pane windows even today, no garages, tiny kitchens with two burners and no ovens... In Japan people are far more reliant on the conscientiousness of their neighbors to maintain a peaceful and quiet environment than people in Canada and the United States are. They also have a low crime rate and safer, cleaner inner cities. Obviously an entire population lives this way, and it works well for them, but that kind of housing situation would be a hard sell in North America.

mjevans 4y ago
That may be true, and it would be nice if people here were so considerate as well... yeah that's not happening. However the ZONING codes could be adopted to much benefit. The BUILDING codes, I still maintain we need to spec even higher, so that I can have a refuge of solitude from the sounds, smells, and presence of Wheaton's Law failing humans.
- dismantlethesun 4y ago
  Is Japan really what unusual? From what I hear the building codes are uniform so the spec for high density housing is similar to that of a single family home. If builders in Canada have to build high density housing to a more costly specification then it’s justified that they won’t find it cost effective even if given the chance to do so. In effect, the low cost of Japanese housing could be from both the zoning code and the building code. (As for culture, those two affect culture and are affected by culture so it’s hard to distinguish.)
db48x 4y ago
The quality of the buildings that get built is unrelated to the type of buildings that are allowed.