buss

10 ms·

61.
by buss 7y ago
One of the myriad reasons I'm running for office here in San Francisco. We've created a completely broken system that's akin to generational theft by boomers from their own children. Time to build more housing. buss2020.org
62.
by buss 7y ago
> Is it the municipal regulations The answer to these questions is almost always "it's the law." Most cities have habitability requirements that mandate minimum sizes and required rooms. What'll end up happening, as h
63.
by buss 7y ago
> But the dramatic rise in rents also coincides with national developers starting to eye the areas around public universities as a growth market. Real estate companies bulldoze aging buildings to put up the kinds of amenity-rich, luxury
64.
by buss 7y ago
I'm an engineer; I wrote the piece in the OP. I'm running for DCCC and am a political activist. We exist! Support my campaign :) https://buss2020.org/donate
65.
by buss 7y ago
You're right that a LVT would help, but the existing regulations prevent people from actually redeveloping their land into more productive uses. When it's illegal to build apartments in over 70% of San Francisco, that's the f
66.
by buss 7y ago
You're right about everything. A LVT would go a long way to solving our problems, but it must also be paired with dramatic zoning reform to actually allow land to be redeveloped into a higher use. Doing that is illegal in the vast majo
67.
by buss 7y ago
See other discussion https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20779868
68.
by buss 7y ago
I mean... investment in productive activity is the opposite of rentier capitalism.
69.
by buss 7y ago
Yup, this is correct. NYC is very far from anything resembling a "deregulated" market.
70.
by buss 7y ago
The agglomerative effects of cities are real and extremely positive, both in terms of technological innovation and cultural progress. Cities tend towards liberalism and breed new ideas. Advocating that we collectively abandon the Bay Area a
71.
by buss 7y ago
> And the solution? It's just build more houses, so the rents go down Right, but the problem is that it's largely illegal to actually build more houses in San Francisco.
72.
by buss 7y ago
Ah, shoot. I knew I forgot something.
73.
by buss 7y ago
I'm advocating that tech, as a collection of individuals, get involved in the social structures that can influence policy and politics. We've sat on the sidelines getting blamed for things for too long.
74.
by buss 7y ago
It absolutely has been outside the realm of acceptable political discourse. Jane Kim, who ran for mayor in 2018, said "The only way to make San Francisco more affordable is not by building a lot more market rate housing as possible, it
75.
by buss 7y ago
We have plenty of land; the problem is the regulations that make it illegal to build apartments in over 70% of the city. Check out http://sfzoning.com
76.
by buss 7y ago
This isn't a solution. You're misattributing the effect with the cause. Developers aren't building more _now_ because it's illegal in the majority of the city, and where it _is_ legal, your permits take about four years
77.
by buss 7y ago
Most of SF has a 45 foot height limit :\
78.
by buss 7y ago
Hey all, I wrote this! Feel free to email me at steven.buss@gmail.com with any questions or comments. Also if you have a few bucks to spare for my campaign, please donate at https://buss2020.org/donate
79.
Software was eating the world – now landlords are eating everything(medium.com)
2 points by buss 7y ago|1 comments
80.
by buss 7y ago
I was just in San Diego for GopherCon and, boy, what a beautiful place. This change will ensure San Diego can keep growing and prospering, meanwhile San Francisco continues to stand athwart history yelling STOP!
81.
by buss 7y ago
For legalizing construction of new apartments, the strategy is multi-pronged: 1) ballot props to make development by-right (must be a ballot prop rather than legislation because the problems are in the city charter which can only be changed
82.
by buss 7y ago
If we get enough YIMBYs and pro-reform Democrats on the DCCC, then the type of candidate the Democratic party supports will fundamentally change. The DCCC on my side of the city (East side) has 14 seats, so we have to run and elect as many
83.
by buss 7y ago
Overly restrictive land use policies is one of the reasons I'm running for DCCC in San Francisco. The DCCC chooses who the "official" Democrat is in a race, which almost always translates into that person winning their race.
84.
by buss 7y ago
Absolutely. A friend of mine founded a company to produce carbon-net-zero biodegradable plastics. Their seed round went well, and making great progress, and are currently raising a series A. If anyone's interested in learning more, ema
85.
by buss 7y ago
A speculator necessarily performs no capital improvement, so developers are by definition not speculators. They're turning an unproductive piece of land into a useful commodity. Calling productive activity, that people apparently val
86.
by buss 8y ago
I think the green-ness relates more to the fact that growing timber captures carbon dioxide, while producing steel and concrete emit carbon dioxide. The production of the glue, and the processes to glue the timber together certainly emit CO
87.
by buss 8y ago
It's all engineered lumber. "This high-rise is being built using glulam, CLT, and Metsä Wood’s Kerto® LVL (laminated veneer lumber)" glulam = glued laminated timber AKA pieces of regular timber stacked & glued together CL
88.
by buss 8y ago
This article is claiming that globalism and free trade are responsible for all the world's ills, when in fact these two principles have resulted in the longest period of peace and prosperity the world has ever known. Millions of people
89.
by buss 8y ago
I'm mostly aphantasic: I get brief flashes of images, completely out of my control, and I can't hold onto them; images appear and disappear in a split second. After learning about aphantasia and the very surprising reality that so
90.
by buss 8y ago
Ah, yeah, looks like you have to activate billing. You'll be solidly within the free tier, though, so you won't be charged.

More ›