4 ms·

Regional government doesn't even need a housing plan or funding. They just need to allow people to build.

joe_the_user 12y ago
Basically, regional government needs a big legal stick able to knock down all local objections to building more housing the regions where the jobs are. However, to get that, regional government needs all the other stuff - a housing plan that illustrates why you need to allow people to build near the jobs and so-forth. Given the present environment, they'd probably need a good deal of money for lawyers even once you have a state or regional legal structure giving them authority to override local regulations.
- pjlegato 12y ago
  Yep. But even the big stick doesn't always work. For example, Silicon Valley cities have managed to indefinitely delay the (approved and funded) state-level plans to upgrade the CalTrain link between San Francisco and San Jose to become a modern, high-speed train with frivolous lawsuits while they work on how to manage the cancellation.
binarycrusader 12y ago
Some regional governments can't keep up with demand. For example, a month or so ago, the Mountain View department responsible for reviewing and approving new developments asked the council for a temporary moratorium. They had over 90 projects in review or development and simply couldn't keep up with them all. New (expensive) housing is popping up all over Mountain View right now...
- pjlegato 12y ago
  They need to start building medium or high density apartments near public transport, not $2m low density McMansions.
  - binarycrusader 12y ago
    The houses I've seen them building in Mountain View don't qualify as "McMansions" by any stretch of the imagination. Unless you define a 3-4 story attached home (that is, it's really a fancy duplex for a single family) selling for $1.5m+ a "McMansion". It's certainly not a high-rise, but neither the permanent residents of Mountain View nor the city want high-rise buildings. Quite frankly, I don't think there's sufficient traffic infrastructure in most of Mountain View (certainly in the heart of it) for a high-density apartment building...
    - pjlegato 12y ago
      I agree, the infrastructure isn't there. The problem is that they do want high density offices, but not high density residences. That just shifts the problem of housing all the workers elsewhere. There needs to be a regional agency to take charge of zoning. Without that, we just get every city trying to shift the housing elsewhere.
    - cpncrunch 12y ago
      A $1.5m duplex is still very expensive for the majority of people. Surely they could build some luxury townhouses or something along those lines?
      - binarycrusader 12y ago
        Yes, I agree. But as far as I can tell, it's mostly due to: 1) lack of available zoned space in Mountain View, 2) high demand, low supply, 3) market willing to bear the price Now don't get me wrong, these are very nice "duplex-style" homes (there's generally 3-5 houses attached together). But these same homes would sell for a fraction of the cost (practically) almost anywhere else in the United States (excluding parts of the eastern US coast). I live in the Bay Area, but I'm from the midwest originally; four+ years later, I still can't get over the ridiculous cost of housing here.

Basically, regional government needs a big legal stick able to knock down all local objections to building more housing the regions where the jobs are. However, to get that, regional government needs all the other stuff - a housing plan that illustrates why you need to allow people to build near the jobs and so-forth. Given the present environment, they'd probably need a good deal of money for lawyers even once you have a state or regional legal structure giving them authority to override local regulations.

pjlegato 12y ago
Yep. But even the big stick doesn't always work. For example, Silicon Valley cities have managed to indefinitely delay the (approved and funded) state-level plans to upgrade the CalTrain link between San Francisco and San Jose to become a modern, high-speed train with frivolous lawsuits while they work on how to manage the cancellation.

binarycrusader 12y ago

Some regional governments can't keep up with demand. For example, a month or so ago, the Mountain View department responsible for reviewing and approving new developments asked the council for a temporary moratorium. They had over 90 projects in review or development and simply couldn't keep up with them all. New (expensive) housing is popping up all over Mountain View right now...

pjlegato 12y ago
They need to start building medium or high density apartments near public transport, not $2m low density McMansions.
- binarycrusader 12y ago
  The houses I've seen them building in Mountain View don't qualify as "McMansions" by any stretch of the imagination. Unless you define a 3-4 story attached home (that is, it's really a fancy duplex for a single family) selling for $1.5m+ a "McMansion". It's certainly not a high-rise, but neither the permanent residents of Mountain View nor the city want high-rise buildings. Quite frankly, I don't think there's sufficient traffic infrastructure in most of Mountain View (certainly in the heart of it) for a high-density apartment building...
  - pjlegato 12y ago
    I agree, the infrastructure isn't there. The problem is that they do want high density offices, but not high density residences. That just shifts the problem of housing all the workers elsewhere. There needs to be a regional agency to take charge of zoning. Without that, we just get every city trying to shift the housing elsewhere.
  - cpncrunch 12y ago
    A $1.5m duplex is still very expensive for the majority of people. Surely they could build some luxury townhouses or something along those lines?
    - binarycrusader 12y ago
      Yes, I agree. But as far as I can tell, it's mostly due to: 1) lack of available zoned space in Mountain View, 2) high demand, low supply, 3) market willing to bear the price Now don't get me wrong, these are very nice "duplex-style" homes (there's generally 3-5 houses attached together). But these same homes would sell for a fraction of the cost (practically) almost anywhere else in the United States (excluding parts of the eastern US coast). I live in the Bay Area, but I'm from the midwest originally; four+ years later, I still can't get over the ridiculous cost of housing here.