What’s wrong with shipping container buildings? Nothing, if they’re used for the right purpose. For a temporary facility, where an owner desires the shipping container aesthetic, they can be a good fit (look, I’ve even done a container project!). For sites where on-site construction is not feasible or desirable, fitting a container out in the… Continue reading What’s wrong with shipping container housing? Everything.
Category: housing
Are San Francisco’s “famed progressive politics” really to blame for the housing crisis?
Perhaps you have read Gabe Metcalf’s piece for CityLab titled ‘What’s the Matter With San Francisco? The city’s devastating affordability crisis has an unlikely villainâ€â€its famed progressive politics.’ It goes into depth about how policies in San Francisco have lead to the current situation where one bedroom apartments are renting for $82,000 per year. Yes, policies… Continue reading Are San Francisco’s “famed progressive politics” really to blame for the housing crisis?
San Francisco’s Housing Crisis: Let’s try everything
Unless you’re already a property owner, things are not getting any easier in San Francisco. Rents rose nearly 14.9 percent from January 2014 to January 2015. San Francisco permitted just 193 new units for every 1,000 new residents from 2012 to 2013, according to Zillow. Only 16% of the current development pipeline is “affordable†affordable-,… Continue reading San Francisco’s Housing Crisis: Let’s try everything
Ed Lee’s plans for “middle class” home buying & the math
Ed Lee touted San Francisco’s down payment assistance program in his State of the City address this week. How well does it really work in an incredibly expensive real estate market like San Francisco? Assume a couple with no kids is making 120% of the median income, which is the maximum you can make to… Continue reading Ed Lee’s plans for “middle class” home buying & the math
Leaving San Francisco. What’s your backup plan?
Yesterday on Twitter, I posted the question to San Franciscans of what their backup plans were if they had to leave for financial reasons. As rents and housing prices accelerate it’s something I think about almost every day. Even moving to the East Bay is seeming to be less and less of an option as… Continue reading Leaving San Francisco. What’s your backup plan?
30,000 units of housing by 2020 and James Baldwin looks at race relations in 1963 San Francisco
Last December, SF Mayor Ed Lee announced a Mayoral Executive Directive ordering all city departments with jurisdiction over housing permitting to prioritize housing construction, particularly for affordable housing, and his state of the city address in January called for 30,000 units of new housing by 2020 with 1/3 of them built as permanently affordable. Come hear… Continue reading 30,000 units of housing by 2020 and James Baldwin looks at race relations in 1963 San Francisco
After the Mission Bay fire: Construction types explained
Yesterday’s huge fire on a construction site in San Francisco left people with a lot of questions, some of which were circulating on Twitter as the fire was still burning. The six-story, eighty foot tall uncompleted structure burned out of control for several hours as nearly 150 firefighters fought to contain the flames and keep… Continue reading After the Mission Bay fire: Construction types explained
Housing links for January 22, 2014
Thanks to everyone that came to SPUR yesterday for the forum on housing construction costs, we’ll be having more events at SPUR on this topic including one that looks reducing the costs of providing housing on February 11. Just a quick post with a few things I’ve been reading and looking at this week: New… Continue reading Housing links for January 22, 2014
Why have the tech buses invaded San Francisco?
Oh boy. There is no easy answer to this question, but protests in front of buses are certainly not going to solve the problem because it’s a problem that goes beyond the boundaries of the City of San Francisco. Saying that tech companies owe a billion dollars for doing curbside pickup are completely ignoring reality and… Continue reading Why have the tech buses invaded San Francisco?
Housing Costs Controversy and the Math of BMR Ownership
My posts on housing costs have gained a lot of attention in the last week or two, and there have been a lot of comments. I decided to respond to Peter Cohen’s comments in this post, because his comments are similar to others I have heard on Twitter and elsewhere from people in the housing… Continue reading Housing Costs Controversy and the Math of BMR Ownership