Why North America zoning and building codes mean developers can't build nice family friendly "missing middle" housing/apartments - eviltoast

We need to make our cities and towns more family friendly. This is called the “missing middle” in housing, and it’s why in north america all we see are either large condo towers or single family homes, which also drives our urban sprawl problems. Which exacerbate out dependency on cars.

Almost all new large towers/buildings in north america prioritize bachelor’s units 1 and 2 bedroom units. Trying to find a well priced 3 or 4 bedroom in a “lively” downtown center, close to transit and work, with plenty of schooling in the area is almost impossible. It’s also a factor in why cities became so empty during the pandemic, ie. Not to many families living permanently in cities.

Here’s a good article that also talks about the same issue with some different apparment layouts, and why developers don’t provide adequate family units.

https://www.centerforbuilding.org/blog/we-we-cant-build-family-sized-apartments-in-north-america

This together with zoning requirements in north america is pushing most cities and developers to only cater towards large towers or single family housing.

  • Iamdanno@lemmynsfw.comEnglish
    1·
    11 months ago

    There is no point in individuals trying to fix the planet. As long as the large corporations are allowed to operate unchecked, the result is a forgone conclusion. We may as well live the best life we can, in the time we have left.

    • Seven@startrek.websiteEnglish
      1·
      11 months ago

      Both are needed, corporations must be held account able and individuals need to make changes to how they live … I don’t believe either will actually happen, but that doesn’t mean that the morality of choices over resource use suddenly get inverted just because of a bad case of nihilism.

      • Iamdanno@lemmynsfw.comEnglish
        1·
        11 months ago

        The corporation thing MUST happen if anything is to be changed. If that doesn’t happen, individuals are just rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. Since the corporations won’t change anything, there’s no point in individual change.

        • Seven@startrek.websiteEnglish
          1·
          11 months ago

          If individuals changed, corporations would be forced to change (or would die) since they would no longer be profitable. It needs to be both at the same time.

          That doesn’t negate the positive moral implication of making a pleasant comfortable life while consuming less.

          Business as usual for individuals means business as usual for corporations.