Discuss
Taupe Avenger @TaupeAvenger
27 Jan 2019
I'm beginning to think that cities should be banned from contracting to build "affordable units" and should be required to just buy existing housing on the open market and rent it out.
11
2
34
So Palo Alto just approved (maybe not final approvals, but I think the difficult ones) its first affordable housing for seven years. paloaltoonline.com/news/2019… The project proposed is a *lot* denser and bulkier than what would be allowed for a market-rate project.

First affordable-housing project in seven years wins approval

On Monday night, the Palo Alto City Council approved the city's first development for low-income residents in more than seven years.

paloaltoonline.com
1
1
2
Without that extra density and FAR, I think this project would have been a lot more expensive per unit. In my ideal world, that extra density and FAR would be allowed everywhere. Would requiring that affordable housing go through the standard rules help get us there?
2
Replying to @davidbaron @MarketUrbanism
Or would requiring affordable housing go through the market-rate construction rules just mean the city spends the same affordable housing money on fewer units? Unfortunately, I'd guess the latter is going to be the much more substantial effect.

Jan 27, 2019 · 6:04 AM UTC

2
Replying to @davidbaron @MarketUrbanism
There are also special cases, like housing for developmentally disabled adults (as included in part of this project) that may call for different sorts of housing than market-rate.
1
But the biggest difference in unit type here is really that they're a lot smaller than typical market-rate for Palo Alto... which perhaps Palo Alto needs a lot more of, but which the zoning code discourages by having limits on so many numbers that there's an obvious result.
1
1
more replies
Replying to @davidbaron @MarketUrbanism
You could extend the density bonuses enjoyed by subsidized housing to all projects...