In a country dominated by 'fast food', why not 'fast housing' - "McHouses" for the people.

[highland145]

We ain't got gud learnin round here but we nice.

 

[K1052]

Already been done... see the Post WW2 housing.

We managed it long before that. People may not like it but this is what peak performance looks like:

 

[MrSquished]

This whole thread seems to be about building more houses with the assumption that the homeless people will be able to afford housing...drunks/drug addicts who can't pass a drug test for a job? Not so much.

Well in the original post he talks about tackling the general housing problem, which means getting more inventory out there in general to lower home prices for everyone - and also mentions these could be starting homes for younger people, And other groups not just homeless.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I guess that's nice for people who want to live on a university campus their whole life lol.

Peak performance is being as far away from others as possible and having lot of land. Single family home with a private yard is the closest thing most people will get. Anything less is a big compromise.

 

[Brainonska511]

I guess that's nice for people who want to live on a university campus their whole life lol.

Peak performance is being as far away from others as possible and having lot of land. Single family home with a private yard is the closest thing most people will get. Anything less is a big compromise.

Different people want different things, news at 11.

And given that prices are higher in places with lots of amenities, it seems that people actually prefer the city style living over country living. And as with all things in life, there are tradeoffs. Prices clearly support that people are willing to sacrifice some land and space to live in the hearts of cities.

 

[K1052]

I guess that's nice for people who want to live on a university campus their whole life lol.

Peak performance is being as far away from others as possible and having lot of land. Single family home with a private yard is the closest thing most people will get. Anything less is a big compromise.

Not everybody wants to live in the middle of nowhere far from basically every service they could need. I'd venture to say not even most people.

 

[Brainonska511]

We managed it long before that. People may not like it but this is what peak performance looks like:

View attachment 97898

Can't do that now: "single stair are unsafe", "where will people park?" "No one [translation: I don't] wants to live like that" "Neighborhood character" "break up the hulking masses" "that's ugly" "community input"

Those Chicago floorplans were always fantastic. Lots of space, front to back ventilation because of the single stair configuration...

 

[Red Squirrel]

The price is one of the biggest deterrents if anything. People are just dumb and follow what's trendy and being able to say you live in Toronto or NYC seems to be trendy for some reason. Why spend half a million dollars or more on a tiny cubby hole or live in a place that's not even yours for more money per month than a mortgage when you can get a full size house for half that in a smaller city? Sure the big cities might have some stores like big box computer stores that small cities don't have, but that's a pretty minor thing considering the sacrifice it takes to live near that.

 

[K1052]

Can't do that now: "single stair are unsafe", "where will people park?" "No one [translation: I don't] wants to live like that" "Neighborhood character" "break up the hulking masses" "that's ugly" "community input"

Those Chicago floorplans were always fantastic. Lots of space, front to back ventilation because of the single stair configuration...

Courtyard buildings (and arguably 4+1s) are the true workhorse of housing affordability in Chicago. We should make them legal to build again.

 

[K1052]

The price is one of the biggest deterrents if anything. People are just dumb and follow what's trendy and being able to say you live in Toronto or NYC seems to be trendy for some reason. Why spend half a million dollars or more on a tiny cubby hole or live in a place that's not even yours for more money per month than a mortgage when you can get a full size house for half that in a smaller city? Sure the big cities might have some stores like big box computer stores that small cities don't have, but that's a pretty minor thing considering the sacrifice it takes to live near that.

I can walk to half a dozen bars in 3 minutes from my house. Three dozen restaurants in less than 5. Pharmacy in 5. Grocery store in 7. Dentist/optician/doctor in 5-6. Movie theatre in 6. At least half a dozen concert/comedy venues within 8-15.

Any of these trips would have taken me 15-30 driving minutes each when I was living in Austin. That's why I don't live in a place like you describe.

 

[MrSquished]

I guess that's nice for people who want to live on a university campus their whole life lol.

Peak performance is being as far away from others as possible and having lot of land. Single family home with a private yard is the closest thing most people will get. Anything less is a big compromise.

Except it's not for most people. Why aren't people banging down the doors to all move out by you? Nobody cares if you want to live out there, but the fact is, most people DO NOT find that peak performance. Those that do, go for it. Except stop taking urban area's moneys.

The amenities of cities are a huge benefit to lots of people. But you are up there with the most ignorant people so you will never figure it out, as this has been discussed ad infinitum and you have learned absolutely nothing from any factual posts in your life on here.

I can walk to half a dozen bars in 3 minutes from my house. Three dozen restaurants in less than 5. Pharmacy in 5. Grocery store in 7. Dentist/optician/doctor in 5-6. Movie theatre in 6. At least half a dozen concert/comedy venues within 8-15.

Any of these trips would have taken me 15-30 driving minutes each when I was living in Austin. That's why I don't live in a place like you describe.

This has been discussed with that ignoramus many times. As you see from his response he has zero clue how real life works. The amenities of a city could be a bix box computer store LOLOL

The guy is a mental midget and harmful to society.

 

[K1052]

This has been discussed with that ignoramus many times. As you see from his response he has zero clue how real life works. The amenities of a city could be a bix box computer store LOLOL

The guy is a mental midget and harmful to society.

I mean everybody has different interests but at some point a person has to recognize that their lifestyle may not actually be ideal to other most people.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I can walk to half a dozen bars in 3 minutes from my house. Three dozen restaurants in less than 5. Pharmacy in 5. Grocery store in 7. Dentist/optician/doctor in 5-6. Movie theatre in 6. At least half a dozen concert/comedy venues within 8-15.

Any of these trips would have taken me 15-30 driving minutes each when I was living in Austin. That's why I don't live in a place like you describe.

That's a pretty small positive considering most of those are things you might visit a few times a year, other than groceries. Having to be further from that is a minor trade off to being able to own a house and being in an area with less people.

No reason small cities can't also be designed to be walk friendly though. This would just require to rethink zoning. Why not allow people to run businesses from their home or even build a restaurant or grocery store in the middle of a residential area for example. Within reasonable means.

As for living in the country, well having to drive far for everything is a trade off, but a trade off that's worth it.

 

[Brainonska511]

As for living in the country, well having to drive far for everything is a trade off, but a trade off that's worth it

That's just like, you're opinion man. Other people think that's not worth the tradeoff.

 

[thestrangebrew1]

We managed it long before that. People may not like it but this is what peak performance looks like:

View attachment 97898

This is pretty much exactly what I'm shooting for. I can't tell from the pic, but I'm trying to promote this type of development in my city, but allowing commercial/retail as well (typically on the bottom floor but I'm not forcing it). In mid May I'm taking a General Plan and Zoning Code amendment to introduce "Mixed-Use" districts. This would allow commercial/residential development on the same property with higher density requirements (20-32 units/acre) at different income levels with the goal to have goods and services within walking distance similar to what you describe in another post above.

I conducted a workshop with our planning commissioners, city council members and the public last week and got some generally positive comments back. Interesting time to live in such a small town (pop 5k) trying to get ahead of the game.

 

[dank69]

I bet "polite people" means "people who like hearing me regurgitate talking points"

 

[nakedfrog]

I mean everybody has different interests but at some point a person has to recognize that their lifestyle may not actually be ideal to other most people.

Red Squirrel will not make this realization, I'm pretty confident of that.

 

[Fenixgoon]

That's a pretty small positive considering most of those are things you might visit a few times a year, other than groceries. Having to be further from that is a minor trade off to being able to own a house and being in an area with less people.

No reason small cities can't also be designed to be walk friendly though. This would just require to rethink zoning. Why not allow people to run businesses from their home or even build a restaurant or grocery store in the middle of a residential area for example. Within reasonable means.

As for living in the country, well having to drive far for everything is a trade off, but a trade off that's worth it.

Then don't bitch about fuel costs and/or electrification.

 

[Brainonska511]

Then don't bitch about fuel costs and/or electrification.

"Why are my property taxes and other upkeep costs so high?" Meanwhile, wants sprawling infrastructure that costs more per capita to build and deliver...

 

[jpiniero]

"Why are my property taxes

Schools., I think for the most part.

 

[dank69]

Schools., I think for the most part.

Yup, bus rides for the kiddies need to start at 5am to get the kids to school for 8am.

 

[K1052]

That's a pretty small positive considering most of those are things you might visit a few times a year, other than groceries.

I'm literally gonna walk down to the pizza place at the end of my block for lunch in a while so I'm skeptical of your frequency estimate.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Then don't bitch about fuel costs and/or electrification.

Still a piss off to get gouged just for the hell of it. There is no excuse for that. Gas used to be under a buck a litre before 9/11. Was affordable then.

And if you think you are not affected by gas prices just because you don't drive you would be very wrong. The food you eat is not grown in a 15 minute city and somebody with a pickup truck built the apartment you live in.

 

[Brainonska511]

Still a piss off to get gouged just for the hell of it. There is no excuse for that. Gas used to be under a buck a litre before 9/11. Was affordable then.

And if you think you are not affected by gas prices just because you don't drive you would be very wrong. The food you eat is not grown in a 15 minute city and somebody with a pickup truck built the apartment you live in.

Transportation costs are actually not that large of a cost associated food, so small increases in gas prices aren't that impactful overall.

Also, you'll be happy to learn that adjusted for inflation, gas prices are largely stable over the last few decades.

 

[K1052]

Still a piss off to get gouged just for the hell of it. There is no excuse for that. Gas used to be under a buck a litre before 9/11. Was affordable then.

And if you think you are not affected by gas prices just because you don't drive you would be very wrong. The food you eat is not grown in a 15 minute city and somebody with a pickup truck built the apartment you live in.

You're quoting a fuel price from over 20 years ago.

Most construction guys I see drive the most busted 4 door daily drivers I've seen because they don't want to put miles on anything nice.