34 ms·

Why would this be built in Detroit of all places? Isn't the whole point of shipping container housing that it's cheaper and quicker to build? Detroit already ha

by joonix 14y ago

Why would this be built in Detroit of all places? Isn't the whole point of shipping container housing that it's cheaper and quicker to build? Detroit already has a large amount of extremely cheap housing all around it, with people leaving the city every day. There's no housing shortage.

shinratdr 14y ago
> Isn't the whole point of shipping container housing that it's cheaper and quicker to build? Actually I think the whole point is "we have a shitload of shipping containers that we're never going to send back and we have no idea what to do with them".
rmason 14y ago
Two reasons: One believe it or not there's a housing shortage in the downtown area. A lot of employers are giving employees bonuses to live downtown and young professionals are taking them. http://citiwire.net/columns/housing-shortages-in-detroit/ http://citiwire.net/columns/housing-shortages-in-detroit/ Second is that there's more freedom to experiment in Detroit than a lot of other places.
johnrgrace 14y ago
In absolute terms, Detroit has lots of housing. But very specific types of housing is in very short supply. My sister lives there and "hipster" housing is in very short supply which is who I expect will live in these.
- daniel-cussen 14y ago
  Hipsters do need an awfully specific habitat to thrive. Streets can't be too clean, air can't either, just enough poverty, but not too much actual poverty, a certain background level of tee-hee crime like smoking, lots of viable Starbucks (for income), lots of non-viable non-Starbucks (for "real" coffee), vegan sandwich shops, obsolete forms of commerce selling obsolete goods (like brick-and-mortar record- and book-stores), reasonable public transport, no actual manufacturing for a hundred miles, urban density, good place to walk around, the geography can't be boring, maybe an art gallery to complain about...
  - zachrose 14y ago
    Actually, yeah. The thermostat for gentrification is pretty finicky. If the art scene goes well in an area, retail and restaurants will follow. Two decades later, the area is expensive and boring.
    - deleted 14y ago
      [deleted]
    - daniel-cussen 14y ago
      Hypothesis: Hipsters are the yeast of gentrification.

by joonix 14y ago

shinratdr 14y ago

> Isn't the whole point of shipping container housing that it's cheaper and quicker to build? Actually I think the whole point is "we have a shitload of shipping containers that we're never going to send back and we have no idea what to do with them".

rmason 14y ago

Two reasons: One believe it or not there's a housing shortage in the downtown area. A lot of employers are giving employees bonuses to live downtown and young professionals are taking them. http://citiwire.net/columns/housing-shortages-in-detroit/ http://citiwire.net/columns/housing-shortages-in-detroit/ Second is that there's more freedom to experiment in Detroit than a lot of other places.

johnrgrace 14y ago

In absolute terms, Detroit has lots of housing. But very specific types of housing is in very short supply. My sister lives there and "hipster" housing is in very short supply which is who I expect will live in these.

daniel-cussen 14y ago
Hipsters do need an awfully specific habitat to thrive. Streets can't be too clean, air can't either, just enough poverty, but not too much actual poverty, a certain background level of tee-hee crime like smoking, lots of viable Starbucks (for income), lots of non-viable non-Starbucks (for "real" coffee), vegan sandwich shops, obsolete forms of commerce selling obsolete goods (like brick-and-mortar record- and book-stores), reasonable public transport, no actual manufacturing for a hundred miles, urban density, good place to walk around, the geography can't be boring, maybe an art gallery to complain about...
- zachrose 14y ago
  Actually, yeah. The thermostat for gentrification is pretty finicky. If the art scene goes well in an area, retail and restaurants will follow. Two decades later, the area is expensive and boring.
  - deleted 14y ago
    [deleted]
  - daniel-cussen 14y ago
    Hypothesis: Hipsters are the yeast of gentrification.