[ExI] housing again

[Dan TheBookMan]

On Dec 14, 2019, at 9:40 AM, spike jones via extropy-chat <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
> 
> OK then, let's think it over and see if our housing needs were reduced by
> technology.  I would argue that they are.  
> 
> Before I present my notions, I will offer a chance for you to think it over
> and post ideas.
> 
> spike

The problem isn’t that people wouldn’t live in higher density housing. They most definitely would. Where it’s permitted, in fact, high density housing seems to work out fine. (And not to bring up generational issues again, but data shows Millennials prefer smaller houses, even apartments over single-family houses, and they prefer to live in cities rather than in suburbs.) However, there’s restrictive zoning laws (they prevent mixed use zones and tend to favor large single family houses over duplexes, apartments, time homes, etc.) and that whole era of seeing a consumer product (the house) as an investment.

There are already many technological advances in housing, but some of these are restricted for the above reasons. You mention SF. That’s an area where it’s extremely hard to build new housing, especially high density housing. Compare it to places like Seattle where there’s at least some new construction. (Still far behind what’s needed to absorb all the newcomers, but it’s helped.)

By the way, here’s a site that promotes all kinds of housing reforms to make better cities for all:

https://marketurbanismreport.com/

Regards,

Dan
   Sample my Kindle books at:
http://author.to/DanUst
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.extropy.org/pipermail/extropy-chat/attachments/20191214/f790a113/attachment.htm>