Housing Roundup #14: You Can’t Build That

Why can’t you build it? Because you aren’t allowed to build it. Not in the place you want to build it. Or at least, not the way you want, to the extent you want it, at any sane price and on any reasonable schedule. The government will not let you. Here are some of the ways that plays out. One way they prevent this is so-called ‘affordable housing,’ which gives out lottery tickets while overall making housing less affordable. Yelling Fire Risk In A Crowded City Don’t hate the firefighters, hate the fire department and the zoning code. City Aesthetics: We could still build places that feel like this…. Jason (referring to lower left photo): Fire department response to site plan & sample photo: -Street width doesn’t meet NFPA. Widen or remove street parking. -Buildings too close to street. Need 15-30’ from curb to face. -Trees likely need to go as they block easy ladder access. -Where’s the fire lane? Seth Largo: You have the courage to hate the rich. You may even have the courage to hate “disabled” vets. But do you have the courage to hate firefighters? Our priorities on this are deeply stupid. The value of the fire harms prevented is vastly exceeded by the value of space lost, even before factoring in the change in culture from having eyes on the street or the value of aesthetics. Fire codes simply should not be allowed to interfere with life to this extent, and this barely scratches the surface of what those codes end up doing. It is too high a price, far higher than the cost of actual fire risk. Make everyone who buys or rents sign a very clear waiver of everything involved and let people make their own choices. Beauty Perhaps a lot more people would support new building if it looked better. Alas, given all the approvals you need, and all the associated costs, and the fact that most of the value of that beauty is not captured in the price, everything new is ugly. We could fix this, if we cared enough. Kelsey Piper: anecdotally I hear from lots of people whose opposi