We need homes. A lot of homes. Not just affordable, but also middle-income homes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“Zoning” is just a law passed by society to achieve societal goals.

If you didn’t anticipate the risk of having to let more people into your neighborhood which may affect your sacred property value as artificial house scarcity is rolled back— well that’s your fault. Because big companies and the wealthy anticipated that risk. As did I when I bought my house. I priced that risk in.

Society needs more housing to make high demand urban areas accessible to all. That’s why we, as a society, will roll back zoning restrictions and allow more housing.

And those who live in the SFHs want to live in a SFH. They will leave town. DMV has plenty of nearby options. And guess what? Pandemic means I do not have to go to the office everyday. And guess who pays the taxes in this town-those who live in those large SFHs. DC has plenty of affordable housing. Check out zillow. The idea that DC is overly crowded is bizzare. DC has fewer people today than it did in 1950.

You can still live in a SFH. No one is proposing to demolish your house and replace it with apartments.

I do not want my SFH to be next to an apartment building. I want my SFH to be in a neighborhood of SFHs. Otherwise, I do not buy that SFH, and I promise you its market value will decrease dramatically with an apartment building next to it.

Then you need to move to Frederick or Ashburn. It’s market value will not decrease. If large SFHs are converted to duplexes and apartments, the market value of those large homes will go up. Supply and demand. But the average price of housing will come down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“Zoning” is just a law passed by society to achieve societal goals.

If you didn’t anticipate the risk of having to let more people into your neighborhood which may affect your sacred property value as artificial house scarcity is rolled back— well that’s your fault. Because big companies and the wealthy anticipated that risk. As did I when I bought my house. I priced that risk in.

Society needs more housing to make high demand urban areas accessible to all. That’s why we, as a society, will roll back zoning restrictions and allow more housing.

And those who live in the SFHs want to live in a SFH. They will leave town. DMV has plenty of nearby options. And guess what? Pandemic means I do not have to go to the office everyday. And guess who pays the taxes in this town-those who live in those large SFHs. DC has plenty of affordable housing. Check out zillow. The idea that DC is overly crowded is bizzare. DC has fewer people today than it did in 1950.

You can still live in a SFH. No one is proposing to demolish your house and replace it with apartments.

I do not want my SFH to be next to an apartment building. I want my SFH to be in a neighborhood of SFHs. Otherwise, I do not buy that SFH, and I promise you its market value will decrease dramatically with an apartment building next to it.

Then you need to move to Frederick or Ashburn. It’s market value will not decrease. If large SFHs are converted to duplexes and apartments, the market value of those large homes will go up. Supply and demand. But the average price of housing will come down.

This. This is precisely what has happened in near NE (where I live). You used to be able to buy a SFH in this neighborhood for 300k. Now you can't buy one for less than 700k, and that's for a house that needs a total gut. And a driving force behind that price rise is that so many houses are snapped up for cash by developers to convert them to 2-4 unit condo buildings. There are still plenty SFHs, but there's also tons of small condo or apartment buildings, plus all the huge apartment buildings they've built along H Street and other major thoroughfares. If you can sell your home to a developer who will convert it into multiple units, you can bump the ceiling of profitability up by a lot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“Zoning” is just a law passed by society to achieve societal goals.

If you didn’t anticipate the risk of having to let more people into your neighborhood which may affect your sacred property value as artificial house scarcity is rolled back— well that’s your fault. Because big companies and the wealthy anticipated that risk. As did I when I bought my house. I priced that risk in.

Society needs more housing to make high demand urban areas accessible to all. That’s why we, as a society, will roll back zoning restrictions and allow more housing.

And those who live in the SFHs want to live in a SFH. They will leave town. DMV has plenty of nearby options. And guess what? Pandemic means I do not have to go to the office everyday. And guess who pays the taxes in this town-those who live in those large SFHs. DC has plenty of affordable housing. Check out zillow. The idea that DC is overly crowded is bizzare. DC has fewer people today than it did in 1950.

You can still live in a SFH. No one is proposing to demolish your house and replace it with apartments.

I do not want my SFH to be next to an apartment building. I want my SFH to be in a neighborhood of SFHs. Otherwise, I do not buy that SFH, and I promise you its market value will decrease dramatically with an apartment building next to it.

Then you need to move to Frederick or Ashburn. It’s market value will not decrease. If large SFHs are converted to duplexes and apartments, the market value of those large homes will go up. Supply and demand. But the average price of housing will come down.

You do realize that the outcome, either intentional or unintentional, is promote more investment in wealthy areas and contribute to ongoing disinvestment in poor areas?

[Anonymous]

Exactly. Why not continue to invest in wards 7 and 8? Better housing - better retail - better schools. All of which is possible. Naval Yard and the area around the Wharf look great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Exactly. Why not continue to invest in wards 7 and 8? Better housing - better retail - better schools. All of which is possible. Naval Yard and the area around the Wharf look great.

We can either destroy the SFH neighborhoods that want to preserve their SFH neighborhoods, or we can invest in parts of the city that need investment. Latter is better. The only people who want to upzone are small time developers who simply want to convert a SFH to a duplex or triplex. Real difficult. I can do that, and I have nothing to do with the real estate business.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“Zoning” is just a law passed by society to achieve societal goals.

If you didn’t anticipate the risk of having to let more people into your neighborhood which may affect your sacred property value as artificial house scarcity is rolled back— well that’s your fault. Because big companies and the wealthy anticipated that risk. As did I when I bought my house. I priced that risk in.

Society needs more housing to make high demand urban areas accessible to all. That’s why we, as a society, will roll back zoning restrictions and allow more housing.

And those who live in the SFHs want to live in a SFH. They will leave town. DMV has plenty of nearby options. And guess what? Pandemic means I do not have to go to the office everyday. And guess who pays the taxes in this town-those who live in those large SFHs. DC has plenty of affordable housing. Check out zillow. The idea that DC is overly crowded is bizzare. DC has fewer people today than it did in 1950.

You can still live in a SFH. No one is proposing to demolish your house and replace it with apartments.

I do not want my SFH to be next to an apartment building. I want my SFH to be in a neighborhood of SFHs. Otherwise, I do not buy that SFH, and I promise you its market value will decrease dramatically with an apartment building next to it.

Then you need to move to Frederick or Ashburn. It’s market value will not decrease. If large SFHs are converted to duplexes and apartments, the market value of those large homes will go up. Supply and demand. But the average price of housing will come down.

This. This is precisely what has happened in near NE (where I live). You used to be able to buy a SFH in this neighborhood for 300k. Now you can't buy one for less than 700k, and that's for a house that needs a total gut. And a driving force behind that price rise is that so many houses are snapped up for cash by developers to convert them to 2-4 unit condo buildings. There are still plenty SFHs, but there's also tons of small condo or apartment buildings, plus all the huge apartment buildings they've built along H Street and other major thoroughfares. If you can sell your home to a developer who will convert it into multiple units, you can bump the ceiling of profitability up by a lot.

And, then, those who actually want a neighborhood of SFHs leave the city. Today, DC has fewer people than it did in 1950. Most other large US cities have experienced an increase since 1950.

[Anonymous]

Increasing density drives housing prices up because it creates economies of scale for businesses.

When lots of people are packed into an area, restaurants and bars and boutiques want to be there too because they want foot traffic. People in turn want to live near walking distance of those restaurants and bars, which drives up demand to live in that area, which increases prices. That creates more incentive to build housing there, which draws even more businesses (more customers!), which leads more people to want to live there, which further drives up housing prices.

It's an upward spiral that would have never begun if there wasn't a critical mass of people living in an area (in condos and apartments) in the first place. This is why a 800 square foot condo in Navy Yard costs more than a single family home in Michigan Park.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Increasing density drives housing prices up because it creates economies of scale for businesses.

When lots of people are packed into an area, restaurants and bars and boutiques want to be there too because they want foot traffic. People in turn want to live near walking distance of those restaurants and bars, which drives up demand to live in that area, which increases prices. That creates more incentive to build housing there, which draws even more businesses (more customers!), which leads more people to want to live there, which further drives up housing prices.

It's an upward spiral that would have never begun if there wasn't a critical mass of people living in an area (in condos and apartments) in the first place. This is why a 800 square foot condo in Navy Yard costs more than a single family home in Michigan Park.

Why can;t we recognize when a neighborhood has a good balance of housing / business? Why is the goal more more more? I would argue that some neighborhoods in DC have a good balance, and some need more investment and yes "vibrant density". As far as I can tell though, the developers really want to be where the property value is already high. And their efforts don't add anything of value to our city scape, whether affordable housing or vibrancy (it's already there). They may drive prices up and undermine overall quality of life though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Exactly. Why not continue to invest in wards 7 and 8? Better housing - better retail - better schools. All of which is possible. Naval Yard and the area around the Wharf look great.

Looks great but isn't cheap. They have been skirting minimum percentage of required affordable housing. Just saw that there are some new condos at the Wharf that will be starting out with a $12 million dollar sticker price. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/05/04/12-million-penthouse-be-offered-wharf/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Exactly. Why not continue to invest in wards 7 and 8? Better housing - better retail - better schools. All of which is possible. Naval Yard and the area around the Wharf look great.

Looks great but isn't cheap. They have been skirting minimum percentage of required affordable housing. Just saw that there are some new condos at the Wharf that will be starting out with a $12 million dollar sticker price. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/05/04/12-million-penthouse-be-offered-wharf/

Glad we bought near the Wharf 10 years ago before Wharf/Navy Yard area started being developed. Couldn't afford to live here now.

[Anonymous]

Upzoning is just another way whiney little millennials want the world to work as they once imagined in the back of the minivan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Increasing density drives housing prices up because it creates economies of scale for businesses.

When lots of people are packed into an area, restaurants and bars and boutiques want to be there too because they want foot traffic. People in turn want to live near walking distance of those restaurants and bars, which drives up demand to live in that area, which increases prices. That creates more incentive to build housing there, which draws even more businesses (more customers!), which leads more people to want to live there, which further drives up housing prices.

It's an upward spiral that would have never begun if there wasn't a critical mass of people living in an area (in condos and apartments) in the first place. This is why a 800 square foot condo in Navy Yard costs more than a single family home in Michigan Park.

+1

[Anonymous]

Upzoning is for developers, not people. How do you all not see that? It’s real estate 101.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Upzoning is for developers, not people. How do you all not see that? It’s real estate 101.

Yup. +100

I also just don’t understand how people think there is an equity argument. No poor person will be able to afford a $1m unit in an AU Park triplex, which is what upcoming will deliver. And that unit will be purchased by a person who would have otherwise purchased in Petworth, Brightwood or Brookland.

So the outcome is likely to increase racial segregation and deprive other areas of the city from needed private (and public) investment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“Zoning” is just a law passed by society to achieve societal goals.

If you didn’t anticipate the risk of having to let more people into your neighborhood which may affect your sacred property value as artificial house scarcity is rolled back— well that’s your fault. Because big companies and the wealthy anticipated that risk. As did I when I bought my house. I priced that risk in.

Society needs more housing to make high demand urban areas accessible to all. That’s why we, as a society, will roll back zoning restrictions and allow more housing.

And those who live in the SFHs want to live in a SFH. They will leave town. DMV has plenty of nearby options. And guess what? Pandemic means I do not have to go to the office everyday. And guess who pays the taxes in this town-those who live in those large SFHs. DC has plenty of affordable housing. Check out zillow. The idea that DC is overly crowded is bizzare. DC has fewer people today than it did in 1950.

You can still live in a SFH. No one is proposing to demolish your house and replace it with apartments.

I do not want my SFH to be next to an apartment building. I want my SFH to be in a neighborhood of SFHs. Otherwise, I do not buy that SFH, and I promise you its market value will decrease dramatically with an apartment building next to it.

Then you need to move to Frederick or Ashburn. It’s market value will not decrease. If large SFHs are converted to duplexes and apartments, the market value of those large homes will go up. Supply and demand. But the average price of housing will come down.

You do realize that the outcome, either intentional or unintentional, is promote more investment in wealthy areas and contribute to ongoing disinvestment in poor areas?

I do think they need to improve lower income neighborhoods by investing in those schools, parks and recreation and give incentives to businesses to move there.