
Jumpstarting the Market for Accessory Dwelling Units - frgtpsswrdlame
http://blogs.berkeley.edu/2017/05/23/jumpstarting-the-market-for-accessory-dwelling-units/
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trimtab
Existing stakeholders see more traffic, less parking, more noise and
disturbance. Higher density housing generally creates more conflicts among
residents.

So existing residents already in place resist more residents arriving in the
same area. Which is understandable, since ADUs do not address adding services
provided by government to existing properties. They just increase the number
of inhabitants in the same area.

Also much of Portland has a much better and less expensive public
transportation system than the SF Bay Area does.

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simonbyrne
Is this really correct though? If increasing the supply of housing allows
people to live closer to heir jobs or other amenities, wouldn't that decrease
traffic?

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sokoloff
On my particular side street (right on the edge of Cambridge, MA)? No; on a
hyper-local level, it will increase traffic and parking pressure.

Via induced-demand, it might even make things worse within the city center.

People vote based on their hyper-local experience and fears. NIMINBY ("not in
my immediate neighbor's backyard") is not entirely irrational here.

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pjc50
"ADU" appears to be bureaucrat-speak for "inhabited garden shed"?

At least the one in the article photo looks rather nice and a reasonable
single-person dwelling, but too much of this kind of thing results in London-
style near-invisible rental slums. :(

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trimtab
In Portland Oregon many ADUs are converted unattached garages, finished
attics, finished basements and more rarely converted garden sheds.
Particularly, in the areas where much of the closer to city center housing
stock is pre-World War 2 and near good public transit.

ADUs have to meet current building and fire codes. Though there is a loophole
where an on-site resident owner may do their own construction without permits.

ADU construction along with rental housing starts is also slowing due to
recent city legislation and the threat of rent control which has been illegal
in the entire state of Oregon since the 1980s. And the city of Portland via
new regulation has already added friction and increased costs in their rental
market exacerbating their "rental housing crisis" except for those renters
already in existing rentals.

ADUs were popular additions on family occupied and/or owned Portland
properties until the recent regulatory changes and rent control threat. Now
there is added known risk and uncertainty.

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Dowwie
It's inspiring what some people are doing with these reduced footprint
properties: [http://daringacorotis.com/47th-Street-from-NYTIMES-
article](http://daringacorotis.com/47th-Street-from-NYTIMES-article)

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meisterbrendan
do these units trigger the NIMBY impulses of neighbors? It seems like a great
way to increase density in otherwise restrictive development environments, but
could also see pushback from neighbors in having a lot more construction in
the neighborhood.

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dminor
There is a great deal of concern in Portland right now for affordable housing,
so while some of the more affluent neighborhoods are opposed to density,
they've generally been overruled by the rest of the city.

