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It really sucks how basically real estate pricing seems to be determinative in what communities will have, especially in the US where restrictive zoning makes i
by rtpg 4y ago
It really sucks how basically real estate pricing seems to be determinative in what communities will have, especially in the US where restrictive zoning makes it even more fragile.
I don't know how you could make something as spacious as what is shown in those pictures work with my understanding of US real estate. No matter what you do, sticking a donut chain in there would probably be more profitable, and thus the rents will show that.
Small cynic in me: when I saw the size of the desk area, my immediate feeling was "chop that in half". Do you really need to be paying a bunch of rent and offering a subpar coworking space along with your hacker space? But I imagine that staff costs are also an issue.
- Alupis 4y agoThe new Golden 1 Arena was built a few years ago and has driven all the surrounding real estate prices through the roof. A great many businesses were driven out of the area by increased rents or just plain kicked out for a demolish/rebuild. A hackerspace like this might be able to find cheaper rent in a more industrial area... but then convenience and safety for members becomes an issue.
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- JKCalhoun 4y agoIs it the same with artist studios? I have no idea. Reading a book about the art-music explosion from Athens, Georgia a few decades ago — someone in the book suggested that art needs cheap rent. A sleepy college town in the dirty south was just the ticket. Maybe maker spaces need to find their home in the low-rent areas.
- rtpg 4y agoI do think that you want to seek out low-rent areas, but if you're setting up shop way out in the sticks then you're simply too far away from people. Doesn't help that in those areas people will have huge houses anyways so will be less in need of a separate workspace, so to speak. Though really you need a good-sized community, and for rent to not absolutely destroy a place. There is a local bar in my area, its customer base is (roughly) the same 50 people that cycle through it on a regular basis. It's a small enough place, and it's run by 2.5 people. But rent can be cheap cuz it's on the first floor of a multi-floor building. The fact that Hacker Lab is next to a tramway line, and there are not even any 3-story buildings anywhere within view in that area, and yet rent is probably a component (though tbf staffing is also a large cost I bet) probably makes this issue even more acute.
- TigeriusKirk 4y agoWhat book is it? I was there in the 80s, would be fun to read about it.