06-02-2021, 11:39 AM
(06-02-2021, 11:12 AM)ijmorlan Wrote: Don’t forget zoning. Remember, it is illegal to build midrise in most of the city. Ironically, if it was legal to build 4-story apartment buildings everywhere, probably most places wouldn’t actually get such large buildings — instead there would be a ton of townhouses, duplexes, triplexes, etc. After all, if every property owner built a 4-story apartment building, we would be incredibly oversupplied with housing.
Which is just wild to me. I don't know why people are not pushing to have this changed - the community, UW architecture faculty, the developers etc. We have rules like not allowing new farmland to be redeveloped but then it's still against the law to develop mid rise projects in a large portion of the city. And when someone attempts it, all it takes is some NIMBYs to totally throw a wrench and derail the project for their own selfish reasons.
I have a feeling a big reason is education. Most people don't understand or even care to pay attention to the nuances of urban planning. But, go to any article or forum post on places like Reddit about high rise towers and you see plenty of people saying "we need less condos, more affordable housing" and so on...but a lot of people don't bother to research things nor go beyond complaining on Reddit or Facebook. Few educate themselves on how we can obtain those things, and few go to council meetings or send out emails saying they want to see more mid rise or affordable housing. There is too much "I want" and not enough "Here is now we can get it".