
Plan to dramatically increase development would transform some LA neighborhoods - blondie9x
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-housing-bill-transit-20180325-htmlstory.html
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LAMike
I live in LA, and I wonder often about the future of housing for this city.

With the population doubling by 2050, something needs to be done. A few ideas
could help:

\- Self driving cars (live in Palmdale) \- Tiny Homes/ADU's \- Rezone parking
lots (significant portion of LA)

~~~
lsc
>Tiny Homes/ADU's

Mobile homes (and all the 'tiny homes' I've seen are smaller and cooler
"mobile homes") are great for quickly putting up housing in undeveloped
places.

I think they are less good for higher density options. Personally? I really
like the idea of condo or apartment towers that are built to modern luxury
condo standards... but have smaller units, and are priced accordingly. I'm in
Silicon Valley, and all the new construction is luxury grade, which is fine; I
like my insulation, climate control and especially my sound insulation, and
I'm willing to pay for these things, but... the problem is that all the units
are also really big; I'd be really happy to pay 60% of what they are charging
for half the space.

What I'm saying here is that I think that the 'tiny home' movement needs to
move up. build us 'tiny condos' and I'll buy one!

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closeparen
The standard “luxury” high-rise studio is 500 square feet. A one bedroom is
maybe 700-900. Is that really unreasonable?

Most “luxury” multi family buildings use that word because the historical norm
is that apartments only exist to cheaply house the poor. It just means they’re
comparable in quality to suburban middle class houses (or are pretending to
be).

~~~
lsc
> The standard “luxury” high-rise studio is 500 square feet. A one bedroom is
> maybe 700-900. Is that really unreasonable?

first, just finding high rise studios built in the last two decades is really
rough. Like I can't find any in silicon valley that aren't giant "lofts" that
approach 1000sqft. Hell, the smallest studio I can find looking around now is
the place I lived in redwood city; it was shit, built in the '60s, with a
giant single pane window facing a major street near an intersection, so you
could listen to all the people who have managed to disable the noise dampening
capabilities of their vehicles. 600sqft. And it felt huge. I mean, not that I
mind the extra space, but I totally would have given up a couple hundred
square feet just for some decent noise insulation.

But... as to the actual question? if you made it proportionally cheaper? I'd
totally buy or rent a 300sqft space with a shower and bathroom, if it were
priced proportionally. Ideally, you setup the shower and commode in the same
enclosure, japanese style, and then have the sink in the apartment.

The problem right now is that usually if you want to pay for less than 600sqft
of space, you end up sharing some wreak of a single family home with five
other people. or you live in a smaller studio built before double pane
windows, with no thought given to isolating you from your neighbors.

I kinda like having public places; I'm a member of a few clubs, including 'the
hacker dojo' in mountain view, and I do move some of my life there. I enjoy
interacting with other people, but I need some private space, even if it's a
small private space. I've lived in shared houses, and with the right people,
it's okay, but it's really nice to have your own adytum to withdraw into,
where you don't have to see or hear anyone.

>Most “luxury” multi family buildings use that word because the historical
norm is that apartments only exist to cheaply house the poor. It just means
they’re comparable in quality to suburban middle class houses (or are
pretending to be).

I don't think that's true in silicon valley; most single family homes around
here were built to working class standards in the '60s and '70s and are all
around pretty terrible. For someone as soft as I am, they'd be intolerable if
the climate was not such that you could sleep in a tent, and they are
intolerable if you live in the flight path of the local airport or otherwise
have significant noise outside. (I'm in a somewhat more modern place right
now, on the approach to SJC, with triple pane windows. It's super loud if you
open the windows, but if you button up, it's nice and quiet.)

~~~
sjg007
Ear plugs and heavy duty curtains should help.

~~~
closeparen
Ear plugs aren’t magic. They are appropriate to make dangerous noise levels
tolerable, but don’t do much to remove the distracting information encoded in
already-moderate sounds. They also reflect the sounds of my own body back into
me, which practically guarantees insomnia. A white noise source is much more
effective. (I use a box fan). Still not great against bass-heavy music next
door but makes me pretty much impervious to street noise.

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Torwald
Sure, if people in Hollywood would be developers instead of actors, the world
would be a better place, LA certainly so.

All kidding aside, I think the solution to this sort of problem, and specially
LA, would be to have an open market for public transportation.

The city council could hand out coupons for transportation to the poor, so
they can commute to work. (The transportation companies would take those
coupons and get the cash for it from the city.)

Such a system would be a much better investments of tax dollars then the
currently offering of public transportation.

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chrischen
Public transit and density is a chicken and egg problem. Without adequate
transit, density is impossible (everyone can't fit their cars in a dense
neighborhood), and without adequate density, public transit is unprofitable.

The only solution is decades of highly subsidized public transit and pro-
density policies, until it fills the profit gap.

~~~
chrischen
Another possible alternative is to promote privatized public transit and allow
the transit companies to invest in dense developments and real estate at
stations.

An example is in Japan where private train lines take people in from the
outskirts of Tokyo into downtown where the line terminates at a transfer point
with malls built by the transit company at the station.

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mtgentry
Ha, I live right in that highlighted area. Used to live on Miracle Mile where
these new apartments have popped up. It really does change the vibe of the
neighborhood. They’re modern and shiney and don’t fit in at all. If they made
the apts look like spanish revival places I think they would get more buy in
from the neighborhood.

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lurchpop
Jesus Christ, if you want to put up one of those buildings you'd have to pay
the existing renters over 3.5 years rent.

~~~
mark212
it pencils out if you go from a duplex to a five or eight story 40 unit condo.

