Reply to We need to build more: gentrification caused by blocking housing construction (not the opposite!)

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Architect here. Most of the cost of new housing in dc is dealing with the totally insane bureaucracy. It’s shameful. There should be a lot more public outrage about it. [/quote]

Hello Ms. or Mr. Architect.
You probably won't get much public outrage on an issue that only applies to real estate developers and architects.  The last I checked, architects make up a small percentage of the population, though the work of architects is embedded in our daily lives.  I am sure most real estate developers and architects complain about the bureaucracy in all majors cities, from DC to LA to Dallas to Tokyo.  It is highly doubtful that Boston, Minneapolis or Providence, RI has a less insane bureaucracy when it comes to constructing new housing.  Permits and fees is part of the process.  Of course, if permits, fees, and plan reviews weren't, most of the country would be hodge podge of shanty towns.  As an architect, you probably learned from your university studies why cities developed building standards.  I am positive that in an architectural textbook, there was a chapter about standardizing the building process and the role of city governments.  Nevertheless, most cities publish procedures for building housing in their particular locale.  Since every city is different, there are probably some variations of the process.  Either way, if you're in the business of designing and building new homes, then you should be keenly aware that you will have to complete a set of tasks in order to get your project approved.  If not, I'd hazard a guess that the AIA would prove a fruitful resource to navigate the design process and the DC bureaucracy.  Evidently, new housing is being constructed in DC, so it must be a somewhat worthwhile.  If an architect doesn't want to deal with the DC bureaucracy, they are free to design housing in Waldorf, Alexandria, Upper Marlboro, etc.  That is one of the benefits of free enterprise economy-you can take your money and business wherever you want.  [/quote]

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