Seth Zeren In the Strong Towns community we emphasize the importance of building to the next increment of intensity, allowing places to organically thicken up over time, flexibly responding to the current needs of inhabitants. I generally agree with this approach and try to put it into practice in my work as a neighborhood real estate developer.
The “next increment” is a topic that deserves a lot more nuanced discussion than I’ve heard from Strong Towns. Trying to figure out what the next increment means in a very mixed neighborhood is tricky. I live in a central city neighborhood developed post WWI, that has single family houses as the most prominent housing type, but many small & medium sized multi-family structures, with a few high rises (2 miles from CBD).
With the ability to build up to 6 units per lot, or up to 5 stories with multiple lots, land values don’t allow the next increment without serious compromises. Your numbers reflect our upside down real estate market that makes small scale development nearly impossible. I’m looking forward to your comments on how to reduce construction costs without sacrificing quality. Building a high quality shell with upgradable finishes is one way I’ve considered. That’s tough when the market insists on building to a finished state, inside & out.
The “next increment” is a topic that deserves a lot more nuanced discussion than I’ve heard from Strong Towns. Trying to figure out what the next increment means in a very mixed neighborhood is tricky. I live in a central city neighborhood developed post WWI, that has single family houses as the most prominent housing type, but many small & medium sized multi-family structures, with a few high rises (2 miles from CBD).
With the ability to build up to 6 units per lot, or up to 5 stories with multiple lots, land values don’t allow the next increment without serious compromises. Your numbers reflect our upside down real estate market that makes small scale development nearly impossible. I’m looking forward to your comments on how to reduce construction costs without sacrificing quality. Building a high quality shell with upgradable finishes is one way I’ve considered. That’s tough when the market insists on building to a finished state, inside & out.