Meta tags:
description=Transportation, Land Use, and Economics in the Southland;

Headings (most frequently used words):

and, in, are, let, go, la, prop, 10, aftermath, metrolink, rer, philosophy, is, union, station, obsolete, zoning, immigration, restrictions, who, can, telecommute, south, bay, boulevards, praise, of, remodeling, missing, middle, musing, impact, fees, bad, taxes, good, never, tweet, transportation, land, use, economics, the, southland, post, navigation, recent, posts, this, month, archives,

Text of the page (most frequently used words):
the (596), and (358), that (159), for (125), housing (85), this (75), are (75), line (67), with (65), but (61), from (57), people (57), would (57), more (54), not (52), you (50), have (48), new (47), county (46), was (43), city (39), there (39), #station (38), san (38), density (36), like (35), south (35), should (34), can (33), many (32), development (31), service (31), all (30), than (30), valley (30), what (28), about (28), one (28), units (28), income (28), rail (27), affordable (26), they (26), also (25), downtown (25), construction (24), prop (23), has (22), impact (21), these (21), bay (21), transit (21), who (20), make (20), through (20), because (20), some (20), much (20), cities (20), state (20), north (20), miles (20), orange (20), bernardino (20), other (19), 2018 (19), metrolink (19), same (19), good (19), california (19), low (19), just (18), probably (18), way (18), fees (18), lower (18), could (18), may (17), union (17), into (17), time (17), over (17), were (17), use (17), will (17), land (17), rent (17), high (17), between (17), live (17), its (16), los (16), angeles (16), their (16), higher (16), building (16), which (16), ventura (16), out (15), here (15), both (15), level (15), any (15), district (15), east (15), suburbs (15), lines (15), santa (15), riverside (15), less (14), still (14), large (14), how (14), neighborhoods (14), already (14), areas (14), let (13), 2015 (13), need (13), been (13), lot (13), being (13), single (13), regional (13), 2014 (12), 2016 (12), planning (12), think (12), them (12), bad (12), 000 (12), irvine (12), when (12), antelope (12), express (12), corridor (12), now (11), july (11), 2017 (11), things (11), best (11), cost (11), costs (11), build (11), unit (11), family (11), each (11), only (11), center (11), type (11), most (11), telecommuting (11), rapid (11), commuter (11), entry (10), posted (10), letsgola (10), uncategorized (10), might (10), year (10), something (10), had (10), back (10), very (10), enough (10), however (10), don (10), trying (10), small (10), start (9), your (9), 2013 (9), ana (9), going (9), increase (9), twitter (9), know (9), even (9), transportation (9), likely (9), landlords (9), better (9), existing (9), per (9), support (9), take (9), look (9), philadelphia (9), boston (9), area (9), employment (9), left (9), change (9), plan (9), work (9), beach (9), west (9), stabilization (9), mile (9), groups (9), create (8), june (8), post (8), too (8), getting (8), part (8), 827 (8), while (8), few (8), able (8), tax (8), amount (8), money (8), every (8), relatively (8), portion (8), doesn (8), reduce (8), means (8), off (8), buildings (8), places (8), central (8), business (8), policies (8), patterns (8), stations (8), network (8), served (8), minutes (8), weinstein (8), own (7), september (7), october (7), telecommute (7), rer (7), try (7), little (7), first (7), without (7), made (7), possible (7), say (7), really (7), taxes (7), rise (7), since (7), example (7), built (7), such (7), location (7), local (7), middle (7), crisis (7), before (7), zone (7), pretty (7), larger (7), well (7), two (7), potential (7), then (7), office (7), provide (7), hill (7), those (7), blvd (7), western (7), portions (7), major (7), job (7), million (7), significant (7), ontario (7), november (6), december (6), month (6), thing (6), see (6), red (6), help (6), end (6), fact (6), never (6), connect (6), tagged (6), public (6), great (6), policy (6), course (6), least (6), demand (6), prices (6), problem (6), streets (6), opposition (6), infill (6), number (6), place (6), old (6), generally (6), illegal (6), keep (6), palms (6), located (6), though (6), tunnel (6), serve (6), turn (6), cbd (6), passes (6), stop (6), spacing (6), centers (6), frequent (6), industrial (6), measure (6), yimby (6), blog (5), august (5), march (5), april (5), zoning (5), immigration (5), spend (5), why (5), want (5), political (5), politics (5), making (5), anything (5), spent (5), our (5), benefit (5), connections (5), wouldn (5), reply (5), property (5), everyone (5), having (5), question (5), nothing (5), replies (5), didn (5), around (5), scale (5), apartment (5), districts (5), almost (5), market (5), faster (5), action (5), diversity (5), opportunity (5), row (5), narrow (5), udu (5), ordinance (5), apartments (5), needed (5), created (5), schemes (5), working (5), ask (5), parts (5), socal (5), perhaps (5), industry (5), given (5), proposed (5), spring (5), run (5), future (5), investments (5), route (5), fashion (5), civic (5), financial (5), metro (5), frequency (5), peak (5), including (5), electrification (5), demographics (5), traditional (5), 605 (5), freight (5), clarita (5), gabriel (5), dense (5), control (5), yimbys (5), website (4), wordpress (4), com (4), view (4), january (4), february (4), learning (4), urban (4), american (4), community (4), history (4), reading (4), goal (4), became (4), get (4), done (4), life (4), sides (4), offers (4), prospect (4), quickly (4), research (4), changed (4), greatly (4), where (4), experience (4), leave (4), improvements (4), progressive (4), come (4), poor (4), actually (4), renters (4), hard (4), does (4), generate (4), fee (4), allows (4), raise (4), rents (4), care (4), big (4), developers (4), primary (4), general (4), recently (4), missing (4), put (4), living (4), right (4), regard (4), lived (4), after (4), square (4), long (4), cheaper (4), increases (4), input (4), makes (4), reasons (4), houses (4), away (4), came (4), travel (4), years (4), remodeling (4), aside (4), home (4), due (4), rather (4), homes (4), bunker (4), note (4), suburban (4), opposite (4), despite (4), different (4), redondo (4), glendale (4), francisco (4), growth (4), sectors (4), worth (4), last (4), refugees (4), southeast (4), figueroa (4), system (4), advocates (4), failure (4), riders (4), plans (4), stops (4), railroad (4), pomona (4), fernando (4), together (4), continues (4), class (4), densest (4), eastern (4), moderate (4), distant (4), inner (4), proposal (4), free (3), comments (3), philosophy (3), recent (3), posts (3), code (3), data (3), architecture (3), outside (3), order (3), clearly (3), disagree (3), internet (3), thought (3), attacks (3), feel (3), doing (3), follow (3), connecting (3), direct (3), reason (3), revenues (3), used (3), unless (3), economics (3), clear (3), paid (3), lead (3), smaller (3), cheapest (3), effect (3), progressives (3), afford (3), found (3), pay (3), unfortunately (3), oppose (3), instead (3), regardless (3), enacted (3), among (3), voters (3), latter (3), counties (3), cover (3), day (3), fix (3), homeless (3), person (3), move (3), got (3), health (3), proposals (3), situation (3), immediate (3), walking (3), human (3), allow (3), townhouses (3), parking (3), friends (3), employees (3), wrong (3), lots (3), projects (3), happen (3), assembly (3), near (3), seemed (3), creates (3), retail (3), needs (3), supply (3), space (3), require (3), biggest (3), strong (3), four (3), show (3), looking (3), allowing (3), willing (3), unpermitted (3), forward (3), provided (3), pass (3), demolish (3), easier (3), entire (3), past (3), ways (3), several (3), under (3), exclusionary (3), war (3), denser (3), direction (3), current (3), tried (3), whiter (3), efforts (3), did (3), genius (3), focus (3), sure (3), boulevards (3), ave (3), manhattan (3), times (3), torrance (3), far (3), access (3), amenities (3), roughly (3), 110 (3), mind (3), suggests (3), won (3), total (3), trade (3), metros (3), push (3), trips (3), bubble (3), tenant (3), protections (3), country (3), options (3), further (3), convenient (3), blue (3), junction (3), connector (3), destinations (3), weakness (3), running (3), reaching (3), serves (3), ridership (3), along (3), southern (3), lowest (3), meaning (3), legs (3), wye (3), anaheim (3), inland (3), empire (3), incomes (3), volume (3), suggest (3), terms (3), reliable (3), bit (3), purposes (3), duck (3), tracts (3), reaches (3), burbank (3), outer (3), failed (3), costa (3), hawkins (3), ordinances (3), passing (3), initiative (3), anyone (3), ballot (3), initiatives (3), ahf (3), his (3), activists (3), faith (3), michael (3), required (2), loading (2), content (2), log (2), sign (2), site (2), restrictions (2), obsolete (2), aftermath (2), older (2), welcome (2), stuff (2), las (2), vegas (2), urbanist (2), particular (2), leaving (2), myself (2), blogs (2), important (2), fight (2), real (2), debate (2), wasn (2), arguing (2), points (2), side (2), otherwise (2), worst (2), news (2), said (2), lately (2), knowledge (2), communities (2), connection (2), funding (2), fund (2), whose (2), develop (2), congestion (2), broad (2), increasing (2), landlord (2), profits (2), logical (2), shouldn (2), during (2), shortage (2), next (2), taxing (2), effects (2), effectively (2), approach (2), enact (2), none (2), 150 (2), price (2), give (2), wanted (2), expect (2), 200 (2), rich (2), majority (2), multi (2), study (2), inefficient (2), closer (2), parks (2), pays (2), former (2), widespread (2), 1980s (2), ability (2), allowed (2), known (2), words (2), compared (2), final (2), thoughts (2), especially (2), supportive (2), hope (2), yourself (2), numbers (2), relieve (2), returning (2), renewed (2), wake (2), rd1 (2), eliminate (2), white (2), institutional (2), finance (2), point (2), worked (2), later (2), landing (2), harvard (2), campus (2), seaport (2), seems (2), exception (2), house (2), merits (2), expensive (2), respond (2), lowers (2), carrying (2), participate (2), common (2), redevelopment (2), northern (2), liberties (2), fishtown (2), certainly (2), leads (2), pattern (2), story (2), days (2), harder (2), link (2), solve (2), trip (2), main (2), subdividing (2), fit (2), planned (2), once (2), economic (2), permitted (2), legalize (2), providing (2), exist (2), huge (2), step (2), dedicated (2), stand (2), obvious (2), theory (2), commercial (2), structures (2), delivered (2), lets (2), resources (2), exists (2), rate (2), dingbats (2), includes (2), until (2), renewal (2), floor (2), room (2), occupancy (2), project (2), manager (2), delusion (2), racism (2), segregation (2), regime (2), against (2), era (2), today (2), 1965 (2), medium (2), enabled (2), fringe (2), accidental (2), auto (2), hawthorne (2), wonderful (2), love (2), diverse (2), climate (2), centrally (2), readers (2), personal (2), problems (2), consistently (2), tomorrow (2), growing (2), bls (2), asking (2), five (2), professional (2), services (2), jobs (2), itself (2), above (2), finally (2), stretch (2), unique (2), worse (2), continued (2), relative (2), mid (2), size (2), articles (2), force (2), elsewhere (2), case (2), increased (2), half (2), rose (2), anywhere (2), restricting (2), welcoming (2), drives (2), demographic (2), trump (2), practices (2), californians (2), play (2), media (2), revised (2), tracks (2), graphic (2), update (2), detail (2), sense (2), consider (2), possibility (2), locations (2), tunnels (2), jct (2), appealing (2), washington (2), offer (2), towards (2), grand (2), connectivity (2), include (2), three (2), purple (2), ride (2), seen (2), exit (2), transfer (2), subway (2), connected (2), considerable (2), terminal (2), seoul (2), terminals (2), improve (2), addressed (2), improving (2), continue (2), expansion (2), hotels (2), taking (2), opened (2), neighborhood (2), notably (2), bounded (2), fair (2), amtrak (2), behind (2), airport (2), whole (2), lossan (2), diego (2), populations (2), air (2), quality (2), bnsf (2), beyond (2), lancaster (2), priority (2), odd (2), transcontinental (2), commerce (2), jurupa (2), trains (2), themselves (2), branching (2), trunks (2), stronger (2), suburb (2), drops (2), greater (2), fullerton (2), via (2), intercity (2), populated (2), addition (2), ends (2), possibilities (2), again (2), couldn (2), manipulate (2), scales (2), graphs (2), following (2), share (2), census (2), tract (2), median (2), constructed (2), appropriate (2), gentrification (2), currently (2), exactly (2), interests (2), withstand (2), cares (2), enthusiastically (2), stuck (2), reform (2), regulations (2), issue (2), legislature (2), stage (2), set (2), battles (2), enacting (2), failing (2), passed (2), believe (2), conclusion (2), values (2), homeowners (2), included (2), vote (2), democratic (2), party (2), perfect (2), officials (2), signature (2), gatherers (2), non (2), profit (2), healthcare (2), player (2), address (2), concerns (2), fully (2), round (2), southland (2), name, email, write, comment, collapse, bar, report, manage, subscriptions, reader, privacy, account, join, subscribers, subscribed, subscribe, archives, search, nov, 2026, navigation, suggestions, break, hiking, water, geology, meteorology, china, road, rob, gifford, clay, dirt, shannon, mattern, infinite, suburbia, kotkin, denise, scott, brown, robert, venturi, african, manning, thomas, marsha, ritzdorf, darkness, revisited, greg, girard, ian, lambot, glitter, stucco, dumpster, diving, john, chase, lewis, mumford, vienna, eve, blau, hangzhou, mathieu, borysevicz, black, darnell, hunt, christina, ramón, read, mainstream, expand, thinking, hopefully, value, engaging, realizing, valuable, reads, anymore, exercise, complaint, finding, minded, convincing, flaming, mad, bet, happening, threw, open, forth, ing, faving, sick, burns, pushing, nasty, instant, dialogue, section, unmoderated, preceding, felt, exhausting, conversations, earliest, experts, seek, hear, perspective, broaden, horizon, find, disagreeing, exaggeration, met, world, expanded, fields, listen, understand, coming, issues, involved, advocacy, tweet, tying, carbon, applies, fine, avoided, conclude, revolutionary, severe, model, oversimplification, dynamic, predict, stands, selling, lowering, perverse, outcome, rewarding, revenue, impose, net, months, generated, visualization, supposed, optimistic, assumption, simplicity, sake, assume, equal, undercut, tend, falling, raising, enables, levels, competition, vast, often, form, fremont, translates, 450, regressive, unintentionally, hurt, result, outcomes, based, charged, expanding, charges, park, quimby, linkage, popular, conservatives, alike, keeps, symbolically, punishes, nefarious, impediments, opinion, proliferation, consequence, bankrupting, governments, schools, charging, mello, roos, whereby, subdivision, fixed, facilities, apply, mince, permanent, temporary, shelters, religious, god, notice, absence, coast, noticed, presence, complete, embarrassment, overwhelming, atrocious, yet, face, nimby, appalling, bearing, witness, tide, misery, floods, night, retreating, double, yellow, thousand, sidewalk, washers, convinced, rezone, townhouse, minimum, requirements, golden, squalor, collar, professionals, insecure, hold, somewhat, understandable, ladder, comparing, crap, load, quite, accessible, replacing, abandoned, yards, necessarily, involves, slowly, downturn, graduating, decade, contrast, focused, handful, vacated, demolishing, artery, couple, brighton, complained, kendall, allston, static, response, slow, responses, disillusionment, agitation, radical, wider, range, entrepreneurs, spaces, developments, directly, proportional, developer, buys, opens, complicated, contractors, workers, employed, occurs, amenity, delay, agency, shenanigans, impression, unleash, virtues, unlike, ton, houston, historical, cultural, emphasis, cool, fronting, ridiculously, homelessness, visible, critical, facet, shocking, systematically, unfortunate, moving, 2012, fortunate, riccoja, visited, tourist, musing, shame, upzoning, table, multiple, modern, conception, social, conditions, rare, coastal, maximum, downzoning, occupied, prior, incentive, logically, badly, ones, dwelling, acknowledges, legalized, check, correct, deficiencies, add, seeing, ingenuity, send, enforcement, nowhere, tell, pushcart, vending, telling, unemployment, intuitively, crowded, disinvested, garage, additions, subdivisions, responsive, viable, fewer, skills, ground, capital, recovered, purposely, york, tenements, structural, reconfiguring, unsurprisingly, converted, boarding, fashionable, cheap, demolished, short, reminded, across, proposes, convert, bedroom, curtailed, praise, undoing, successfully, perpetuated, worthwhile, segregated, ought, evolved, originally, envisioned, ideas, incorporated, vision, inclusive, caused, causation, runs, intent, happened, lessons, discriminatory, color, others, produced, 1945, integrated, accident, contrary, interpret, 1990, attempt, call, naturally, poorly, understood, overlooked, aesthetic, observers, orientation, implore, priced, cruise, reflected, establishments, rosecrans, earlier, artesia, partner, picky, representing, anonymous, eponymous, surprising, podiums, pursue, dreams, theme, celebration, grander, westside, prime, suburbanization, features, usually, boomer, mythos, popularized, immortalized, boys, 105, carson, extends, segundo, hermosa, pch, depending, conceptualize, written, extensively, favorite, collection, radar, gardena, lawndale, works, counting, traffic, hoping, technological, solutions, bail, selfish, actors, 1993, economy, quick, analysis, guesses, percentage, throwing, chances, observatory, curbed, lab, representative, sample, government, leisure, hospitality, guess, easily, category, lends, subject, manufacturing, logistics, according, theoretically, simple, bigger, rural, nevada, imagination, marginally, competent, impossible, avoid, emails, unanswered, calls, unreturned, desk, thread, relations, touch, benefits, employee, overhead, employer, productivity, supervise, coordinate, team, offices, zones, spate, millennials, idea, shifting, amazing, citing, pittsburgh, allegheny, lost, population, wonder, agglomeration, success, experimental, evidence, 2005, united, states, workforce, represents, reduction, period, overall, grew, consequently, organization, promotes, held, solution, america, woes, adult, ever, tech, late, 90s, eventually, technology, matter, spokane, concludes, effective, maintaining, border, walls, edge, associate, professor, science, merced, finds, 1970, restrictive, 2006, racial, resentment, whites, fearful, cruel, cuts, national, restrict, jessica, trounstine, fulfill, ideal, prevent, poisoned, mindset, administration, devised, steven, miller, son, disown, inability, highlights, arises, inadequate, lack, escape, desperate, situations, rightly, gotten, calmatters, ran, faced, earn, looming, heads, article, detailing, challenges, map, shows, pink, dashed, version, original, branches, discuss, concentrate, below, concepts, numerous, offs, everything, studied, provides, pedro, serving, compromise, tricky, grade, separating, adequately, mission, southwest, arterials, analyzed, determine, option, excluding, flower, parallel, beneath, true, broadway, olive, prove, placed, underground, feature, somewhere, resolve, fortunately, desired, sunk, viewed, embark, invest, upgrading, resolving, fundamental, relies, crowding, vehicle, capacity, driven, passengers, penn, walkable, midtown, serious, arc, gateway, adjacent, walk, destination, subsidiary, intermittently, pursued, alleviating, jefferson, peripherally, berlin, bahn, preparing, sum, extend, caltrain, king, transbay, operates, hybrid, heart, closely, spaced, paris, developed, formerly, stub, ended, edges, longer, deeper, systems, compliment, rely, distance, abroad, reviewing, activity, convention, olympic, busy, intersection, residential, intense, pico, arts, emerged, remembering, scheme, racist, chinese, immigrant, replaced, operated, atsf, inconvenient, arguably, 1939, gravity, shifted, various, pull, 101, 1950s, 1960s, moved, invested, gold, bus, plaza, silver, soon, speed, master, historic, mistake, bothering, momentum, philosophical, examining, considering, slots, fast, train, stopping, electrified, justify, barbara, ultimately, mountains, trap, basins, victorville, palm, springs, limits, program, phased, wealthy, changes, phasing, frustratingly, decent, nodes, rest, man, costly, upgrades, heavily, montebello, flanked, taken, warrant, trunk, terminate, beneficial, maintain, setup, unusual, reverse, scenario, weakest, shares, linking, continuing, starting, commutes, forming, flanking, except, corona, canyon, colton, splits, takes, track, dispersed, surfliner, expands, hoped, adding, minute, warranted, corridors, exceptions, sparsely, occurring, mapped, densities, mainline, highest, densely, largely, travels, vicinity, underutilized, compare, interesting, core, second, busiest, northeast, limit, clemente, ignoring, oceanside, secondary, isolation, tantalizing, conversion, poorest, stretches, traveling, tapers, fontana, rialto, natural, receive, simi, moorpark, panorama, van, nuys, reinforce, initial, distances, apparent, sufficient, excessive, detailed, infrastructure, schedules, approximately, satellite, goals, cross, susceptible, types, suits, pressures, opportunities, available, focusing, identify, define, affordability, setting, environmental, previous, looked, complimentary, suit, vary, traverse, obstacles, reforms, garner, wide, variety, succeed, easy, path, sooner, largest, municipalities, jose, crucially, cut, date, 1978, 1979, stabilized, stock, dwindles, composed, increasingly, puts, squarely, lap, whom, 1995, either, remains, stripes, immediately, granted, proponents, rightfully, complain, campaign, sometimes, deceptive, crafting, unfair, opponents, regular, deserve, special, status, exempted, chance, reliably, elections, scaring, risk, wholesale, repeal, fatal, flaw, specter, dooming, divert, attention, unearned, gains, evicting, frame, attack, universally, accepted, homeownership, diet, radio, messaged, killed, polling, indicating, trouble, presumption, strongly, entitled, incumbents, officially

Text of the page (random words):
dditions to illegal subdivisions of commercial structures and of course rather than seeing this human ingenuity as a way to solve the housing shortage we send out code enforcement to demolish these units when we have nowhere to tell the people who live there to go it s like making pushcart vending illegal and then telling people to go stand in an unemployment office line instead the city of la s unpermitted dwelling unit udu ordinance was a huge step forward in this regard because it acknowledges that these units add much needed affordable housing to the city of los angeles the udu ordinance allows a unit to be legalized provided that they pass plan check and correct any building code deficiencies and that one unit on the property is dedicated as an affordable unit for 55 years however for political reasons the udu ordinance only allows this for units occupied prior to december 10 2015 if you could build a new illegal unit and then legalize it through the udu ordinance this would create an incentive for people to start building more illegal units but of course logically if the units are providing much needed affordable housing housing that is so badly needed we are willing to legalize the ones that exist the problem is not that people would build illegal units it s that the units people build would be illegal udu ordinance aside subdividing old housing into multiple apartments generally doesn t fit into the modern conception of planning neighborhoods are planned to be built once and then never change regardless of what social and economic conditions change around them if you happen to own a single family home in a multi family zone a very rare situation in la these days you could do this but most places in coastal california are already built out to their maximum permitted density or in many places more than their permitted density due to downzoning it s a shame because upzoning would probably lead to not only an increase in new building construction but to remodeling of existing buildings by not allowing it california is leaving some of the most affordable potential housing units on the table this entry was posted in uncategorized on july 7 2018 by letsgola missing middle musing 1 reply i recently had the opportunity to travel to both philadelphia a city i don t know very well and boston a city i lived in for 12 years before moving to la in 2012 in philadelphia i was fortunate enough to have riccoja show me around northern liberties and fishtown in boston i spent a lot of time walking around the city looking at how things had changed or not changed since i left i also visited dc but really just the tourist thing and didn t get to see much new development i came away from my trip with two main thoughts on housing in los angeles we have systematically made it harder and harder to build missing middle link housing in la this is unfortunate because i don t think we can solve the housing crisis without building a lot more of it the homelessness crisis is the most visible and critical facet of the housing crisis even being away for just 10 days it was shocking how bad things are in la when i came back row houses and ridiculously narrow streets for historical reasons i don t have the time to research or go into here philadelphia seems to have a strong development cultural emphasis on single family housing regardless of how small the lots or buildings are philadelphia is also cool with really narrow streets this leads to a pattern of narrow streets with narrow two to four story row houses fronting right on the property line unlike other american cities it s still possible to do development like this in philadelphia and there s a ton of infill row house development in northern liberties and fishtown the only other place that allows townhouses like this is houston i think and it s certainly not on streets this narrow my biggest impression from philadelphia is that la needs to unleash this type of development the virtues of small scale development like this are many it doesn t require lot assembly so there s no delay for that and never any need for redevelopment agency shenanigans it s cheaper per unit to build because there is less common area and amenity space than a large building it s cheaper per development to build which means a larger number of people can build them this both increases housing supply and increases community input into how development occurs it also makes it more likely that small local developers who know the community well can participate it s less complicated to build than a large building which means a larger number of contractors and construction workers can be employed in its construction this increases employment opportunity and lowers costs it s faster to build than a large building which means it can respond to housing needs faster than large developments this also lowers costs because carrying costs are directly proportional to the time between when the developer buys the lot and when the building opens it creates small retail spaces which increase the diversity of local business and creates opportunity for a wider range of small entrepreneurs all of this means a faster larger and cheaper response to the need for new housing this is both good on the merits and good politics because slow and expensive responses to the need for housing lead to more widespread disillusionment and agitation for radical action new districts and static neighborhoods in contrast development in boston seems to be focused in a handful of new districts the seaport north point harvard s campus in north allston station landing the area near north station vacated by demolishing the central artery assembly square and kendall square there was a little infill development a couple buildings in the north end a house in brighton center whose architecture my friends complained about but it seemed to be the exception now there s nothing wrong with replacing parking lots and abandoned rail yards with new neighborhoods in fact it s pretty great but it almost necessarily involves a lot more central planning from the city big institutional developers and big institutional finance that means projects that move much more slowly have a higher cost per unit and are less likely to happen before the next market downturn north point is great but it was one of the first projects i worked on when i lived in boston after graduating and it s just getting built over a decade later the same could be said for assembly square station landing harvard s campus and the seaport these projects will happen when demand is high enough but they take a long long time my friends in boston are white collar professionals and public employees they re not housing insecure by any means but they didn t hold new development in boston in high regard and it s somewhat understandable it s not really for them it s for people just a little higher up the income ladder comparing to philadelphia i can t help but think that boston would be better off if it were also building a crap load of small scale development like townhouses and small apartment buildings in places not quite as central as the new districts but still t accessible golden state squalor returning to la i was more convinced than before that we need to allow more missing middle development here if it were up to me i would rezone every rd r2 and r1 zone in the city to something like an rd1 2 or rd1 townhouse zone with townhouses allowed by right with a minimum lot area of 1 200 sf or 1 000 sf i d also eliminate parking requirements and reduce the impact fees but more immediate and more appalling was returning to la and walking around downtown bearing renewed witness to the tide of human misery that floods downtown every night retreating east of the double yellow line on los angeles st and south of 3 rd st during the day a thousand sidewalk washers in its wake i didn t notice the absence of homeless on the east coast but i noticed the presence when i got back and it s a complete embarrassment to la and california that a state so rich should have so many people living on the streets the numbers are overwhelming the state of public health on the streets is atrocious and yet still proposals to relieve the situation face nimby opposition it s hard to put into words how bad things are in california compared to other us cities so let me not mince words in my final thoughts we need to be out there trying to do something every day to fix this problem and if you oppose new housing especially permanent supportive housing or temporary shelters for the homeless you are a bad person and i hope you feel bad about yourself because you should i m not a religious person but if this crisis doesn t move you by god what would this entry was posted in uncategorized and tagged affordable housing boston missing middle philadelphia on july 1 2018 by letsgola impact fees are bad taxes are good 2 replies one of the more nefarious impediments to housing construction in california in my opinion is the proliferation of impact fees on new development impact fees first became widespread in the 1980s a consequence of prop 13 bankrupting local governments ability to pay for public improvements like parks and schools the state allowed cities and counties to start charging community district fees also known as mello roos fees whereby each unit in a new subdivision pays a fixed amount to cover the construction of new public facilities these fees only apply to new construction in a particular district other development impact fees charged on all new construction in a city regardless of location have also been expanding for example the city of la charges a park or quimby fee on all new construction to pay for new parks in the city and recently enacted an affordable housing linkage fee where all new construction pays into the city s affordable housing fund impact fees are popular among conservatives and progressives alike the former because it keeps taxes lower on a majority of voters and the latter because it symbolically punishes people that progressives don t like such as developers and the people who can afford new housing unfortunately impact fees are bad they are a regressive and inefficient way of funding improvements and they unintentionally hurt many people as a result people who support progressive outcomes should oppose impact fees and support general broad based taxes instead let s take a closer look at why impact fees often form a large portion of the cost of new housing for example a recent study of impact fees found that some cities such as irvine and fremont have impact fees of over 60 000 per multi family unit that translates to about 450 month in higher rent just to pay for impact fees progressives tend to not care about this because they view these taxes as falling on big bad developers and on the people rich enough to afford new housing however by raising the price of the cheapest new construction it enables landlords to raise rents to higher levels without any competition from new construction since the vast majority of housing is existing units and there are relatively new units impact fees are in effect taxes on renters for the primary benefit of landlords here s a visualization supposed that every year you have one new housing unit built for every 50 existing units an optimistic assumption in california for simplicity s sake assume all housing units are equal and the city has 10 000 housing units if new construction rents for 2 000 month prices for existing units will not rise higher than 2 000 month because they will be undercut by new construction this year we would expect 200 new housing units to be built now let s impose a 20 000 unit affordable housing impact fee on new construction the cheapest new construction will rent for now is about 2 150 month that allows landlords to raise the price for existing units to the same level the net effect is that we raise 4 000 000 year for affordable housing construction enough for about 8 units at california prices and we increase landlord profits by 18 000 000 year 150 month x 10 000 units 12 months year so our impact fee is really a 7 5 tax on renters and we give over 80 of the revenues generated to landlords is this really what we wanted to do a better approach would be to enact a much smaller tax on everyone that would generate the same amount of revenue in this example a 1 67 tax on rent on all units would generate the same amount of money for affordable housing and none of the money would go to landlords of course having made it clear that the cost is actually being paid for by renters the next logical question is why we should be taxing housing in this way at all now this model is clearly an oversimplification dynamic effects are hard to predict but it stands to reason that at least some of the cost will effectively be paid for by people selling land since higher costs of new construction will make people less likely to build new housing lowering the demand for land and taxing all units does not lead to the perverse outcome of rewarding landlords for doing nothing but it is still logical to conclude that if you increase taxes on new housing the cost of housing will rise it is not revolutionary economics to say that if you want more of something you shouldn t tax it increasing the cost of new housing during a severe housing shortage is just poor policy really tying taxes or fees for public improvements to new construction in this way is not progressive at all there s no reason funding for affordable housing has to come from anything to do with development the progressive way to do it would be to tax things that are bad and use the revenues to fund things that are good a carbon tax whose revenues are used to develop affordable housing would be great so would a congestion tax used to develop affordable housing a broad property tax that applies to everyone would also be fine but impact fees should be avoided if possible unless the goal is increasing landlord profits this entry was posted in uncategorized and tagged affordable housing on june 3 2018 by letsgola never tweet leave a reply it s not an exaggeration to say twitter changed my life i ve met people that i probably never would have otherwise my knowledge and world view has been greatly expanded by connecting with people in transportation urban planning architecture and many other fields i ve been able to listen and understand where people are coming from on issues i have no experience with and from communities i have no direct connection to i probably wouldn t be involved in housing advocacy if not for twitter that said it has felt very exhausting lately and i ve had a few conversations with some of my earliest twitter connections who feel the same way twitter made it possible to quickly connect with experts and people doing new research and even to seek out and follow people you disagree with to try to hear their perspe...