And it's not a bad take at all! Some even join the #trainGang in the comments. Anyone up for some radicalization (and knows how to blend in with Canadians)?
Holy shit 90ish square meters is pretty roomy by the standards of many big cities.
That's considered a huge fucking apartment in my country. Whole families live in such apartments.
You North Americans are so fucking wasteful.
I've been thinking about this. I think part of the reason that Americans aren't satisfied with "small" houses is that there isn't usable public space outside of a few large cities (NY, maybe Chicago?).
So, american houses are everything. Living quarters, play space, relaxing space, green space, hosting space, etc etc, whereas in most of Europe publicly accessible parks, walking areas, bike paths, meeting halls, bars, etc are walkable, affordable/free, and are therefore a bit like an extension of the home.
So an 80sqm flat in Europe feels much larger than in america, where a family would feel suffocated.
Hyper individualization and the withering of the commons means you have to maintain your own greenspaces and hobby shops. There isn't anywhere for you to go that doesn't have a bouncer and a cover charge. Especially outside of the major metros, most "public spaces" are strip malls and fast food joints plopped next to a 50mph highway that hasn't been resurfaced in 40 years.
I have no clue how large 1000 square feet is because I use metric but it sounds like a lot
I use the approximate conversion that they're about a factor of 10 apart.
Also, I wasn't sure if this belonged in the dunk tank, since its not that bad of a take.
It's a pretty solid take. In many places there has been so much overinvestmenf in real estate that bringing down prices would crash the economy.
Its only a matter of time before the neolibs stop pretending they're trying to make housing affordable and start talking about prices like the stock market: number go up = good.
In Australia, as I'm sure in many other places, the only solutions governments have thought up is "more new houses for first home buyers" aka fucking terrible urban sprawl:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-09-19/covid-stimulus-triggered-a-land-rush-in-perth-outer-suburbs/12666892
It is not enough for the antipodean Anglo to demand a yard for himself, but others must be forced to have yards by his NIMBY planning laws.
In many places in NZ and Aus its literally illegal to build efficient modern housing.
Surburbs should definitely be converted with more density, but a yard isn't bad per se. What is sad is when you have good soil and you only have lawn. It's nice to have a few decorative plants — especially if they're water wise — but damn plant a decent crop of something edible, even an easy crop of potatoes or spring onions.
Yeah, but mandating yards (or gardens) is insane when there are so many unhoused people in major cities.
Mandating sounds crazy, but if you've got a space between buildings or a sizeable verge, I'd say that's a place a garden can fit, it doesn't have to be massive.
As for housing people, in my city and I'd say most others, the issue isn't space so much as a lack of political will and landlords doing landlord bs, like buying and sitting on vacant investment properties.
Idk about other places, but one city I used to live in would deny building permits unless 35% of the land would be left unbuilt for aesthetic purposes.
Communal garden courtyards in apartment blocks can be great. Also the German fashion for tiny sheds and garden plots in large scale public places is an awesome solution. Some people live in them in summer, like a tiny Dacha.
This sounds nice, and I would love to see some more courtyard gardens in Australia; sadly a lot of apartments are still built with a mind only to having a few strips of lawn and parking lots.
i also like to think about how happy all the reverse mortgage lenders are with covid right now. it kills boomers specifically and we're in a recession! more reverse mortgages, and they're all dying too. literally their dream
Just started reading capital city by samuel stein. I'm only about halfway through, but it dovetails nicely with this post. talks about how the history of planning and the rise of the real estate state. fun little factoid: global real estate is worth some $217 trillion, some 35x the value of all gold ever mined. A society of renter's is not that hard to imagine.
Would recommend for those interested!
