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I wonder what happens when there’re no new dwellings that can come into a particular market. Only the existing can be used.

akira2501 3y ago
You tear them down and build higher capacity ones.
- seanmcdirmid 3y ago
  That adds a lot of cost to your project, so the pay off has to be huge. You buy the land with the existing structure, pay to tear it down, and pay to build the new thing. If you are building only slightly more capacity, the numbers won't work out, so hopefully zoning allows for a lot more.
  - akira2501 3y ago
    You were presenting it as somewhat of an existential issue. In that case, I'm sure the concept of zoning would need to be radically overhauled, and it can no longer be a mechanism to protect property values but instead to prevent abuse of those who do not currently own any.
    - seanmcdirmid 3y ago
      Zoning is the limiter, but a lot of zoning is due to infrastructure or geologic issues. You can build a trailer on land with septic, but you aren’t going to build an apartment building there. Actually, why mom owned land near Seattle that had this restriction: it was cheap, but you couldn’t actually build a house on it, so they built a huge garage with a second floor instead.
      - thereisnospork 3y ago
        They build skyscrapers in Tokyo, and in San Francisco for that matter - on mud and bay-infill no less. Zoning has very little to do with anything resembling an engineering limitation. As for infrastructure there's taxes which should pay for everything, but it's common practice to simply require constructors pay for the upgrades. Nevermind that infrastructure should only be cheaper per head with density.
        seanmcdirmid 3y ago
        They don’t build many skyscrapers in Tokyo compared to its population: Tokyo has 173 skyscrapers at 14 million people, Chicago has 137 skyscrapers at less than 3 million. Most of the housing is 10-15 stories, under 150 meters. Tokyo has made huge investments in transportation, but a lot of that is private. They also have a multi billion dollar drainage system needed to keep the city from flooding. HK is the gold standard for skyscraper living, if that’s what you are into. It is still very expensive though.
- onlyrealcuzzo 3y ago
  Bold of you to assume higher capacity is legal.

akira2501 3y ago

You tear them down and build higher capacity ones.

seanmcdirmid 3y ago
That adds a lot of cost to your project, so the pay off has to be huge. You buy the land with the existing structure, pay to tear it down, and pay to build the new thing. If you are building only slightly more capacity, the numbers won't work out, so hopefully zoning allows for a lot more.
- akira2501 3y ago
  You were presenting it as somewhat of an existential issue. In that case, I'm sure the concept of zoning would need to be radically overhauled, and it can no longer be a mechanism to protect property values but instead to prevent abuse of those who do not currently own any.
  - seanmcdirmid 3y ago
    Zoning is the limiter, but a lot of zoning is due to infrastructure or geologic issues. You can build a trailer on land with septic, but you aren’t going to build an apartment building there. Actually, why mom owned land near Seattle that had this restriction: it was cheap, but you couldn’t actually build a house on it, so they built a huge garage with a second floor instead.
    - thereisnospork 3y ago
      They build skyscrapers in Tokyo, and in San Francisco for that matter - on mud and bay-infill no less. Zoning has very little to do with anything resembling an engineering limitation. As for infrastructure there's taxes which should pay for everything, but it's common practice to simply require constructors pay for the upgrades. Nevermind that infrastructure should only be cheaper per head with density.
      - seanmcdirmid 3y ago
        They don’t build many skyscrapers in Tokyo compared to its population: Tokyo has 173 skyscrapers at 14 million people, Chicago has 137 skyscrapers at less than 3 million. Most of the housing is 10-15 stories, under 150 meters. Tokyo has made huge investments in transportation, but a lot of that is private. They also have a multi billion dollar drainage system needed to keep the city from flooding. HK is the gold standard for skyscraper living, if that’s what you are into. It is still very expensive though.
onlyrealcuzzo 3y ago
Bold of you to assume higher capacity is legal.