Tag Archives for " affordable housing "

As expected, NIMBY (not in my backyard), BANANAS (Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything or Anyone) and CAVE (citizens against virtually everything) people are torpedoing tiny home subdivisions as this AP article by Scott McFetridge makes abundantly clear.   Tiny houses are trendy – unless they go up next door.

Property values in central London are: -doubling every ten years -in the Kensington-Chelsea area, a record price for a home was set in 2014: 8,500 pounds per sq ft, 20 times the national average To put that number ($11,135 USD per sq ft) in perspective, it costs about $220 per sq ft CAD to build […]

A friend of mine recently wrote me saying that he was about to give up on the idea of creating affordable housing units in a mixed use place he is developing (with others) in east end Ottawa.  Here’s what I wrote back: Hmm. I would not give up on that yet, Sebastian (not his real […]

A client of mine has a home in Little Italy (in Ottawa, Canada). He wanted to divide his ground floor into 2 smaller apartments (instead of one larger one) to provide more affordable housing. Total cost of the reno? $15,000 The city’s view? He needed a full site plan application and a streetscape study (despite the fact that […]

How to reduce costs, increase unit size and develop a triple bottom line (economically, environmentally and socially sustainable model) by Melbourne architect Jeremy McLeod: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFJj1v3jmYU?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://safe.txmblr.com&wmode=opaque&w=540&h=304] @ profbruce @ quantum_entity postscript: I like Jeremy’s ideas on cost reduction and completely understand how difficult it is to get unorthodox projects both approved and financed.  One thing […]

Why are micro suites and apartments (less than 25 sq meters) so popular? -millennials want a simpler life -with less mortgage debt or rent -closer to downtown, jobs, learning, entertainment and friends Also, they’re sick of roommates, as in, “Who drank my beer?” or “Where’s my leftover pizza?” or “It’s your turn to clean the bathroom not […]

I read an article in Bloomberg Businessweek this month (May 2016) titled Helping Americans Move out of Poverty. I was struck by this: “Zoning rules stipulate minimum lot size or maximum building heights to prevent construction of affordable housing. Such restrictions can increase housing costs in thriving local economies by 50 percent or more,” Bloomberg View […]