Borough Of Carlisle’s Post

We talk a lot about zoning reform in #YIMBY discourse, but this is often a policy discussion that involves a balance of political will and legislation. One thing we don't talk about very much is reforming city bureaucracy-- an often quite gnarly space of habituated, rote procedures and box-checking, that effectively exists outside of both public policy and the legislative process. I can speak from personal experience from having worked in a building department where, in spite of a vast body of institutional knowledge and professional talent among the rank-and-file, managers were often more interested in lecturing me on the inappropriate color of my footwear (I wish I were joking) than on collaboratively building a more equitable and functional city. I have stories about this for days. But it makes me wonder how much more housing we might be able to build-- and therefore how much more affordable housing might be at large- if we were able to reform the process of permitting, entitlements, and planning reviews. A new academic paper looks at this question by using 12 years of construction permitting data with some modified time value of money equations to try and model how speeding up the timelines for permitting-- on average about a year and a half in Los Angeles- could have outsized effects on encouraging the rate of more housing production and therefore more affordable housing. Thanks to Jennifer Castenson for sharing!

What can you do to create pedestrian connectivity in a town built for cars?   Hempfield Township is taking a few important first steps with their recent zoning ordinance updates. The first update requires all new residential developments to include sidewalks. The second amends the requirements for an overlay business district. Within this district, new construction must include sidewalks and keep parking lots at the side or back of the property. The ordinance also encourages businesses in this district to share access routes (or curb cuts) to provide a continuous path for pedestrians and minimize conflict between them and vehicles. These ideas were suggested in the comprehensive plan we helped the township create and adopt late last year. The plan incorporated extensive feedback from the community and included several features to facilitate action and measurable progress, including a prioritization matrix that listed incremental steps, potential partners, estimated costs, timeframe, and potential funding strategies. In addition to these ordinance updates, the township recently submitted a RAISE grant application to conduct a broader feasibility study for potential improvements to Mount Pleasant Road designed to reduce back-ups at the Route 30 interchange and increase safety. They’re also moving forward with a branding and signage plan that will create a sense of shared identity and promote local attractions. A comprehensive plan is a good first step toward a community’s goals, but it’s only the first step. An implementable comprehensive plan makes the next steps clear and achievable. We’re happy to be working alongside Hempfield Township as they make progress on their goals. https://lnkd.in/eKxxZKsj

It is critical that all newly built homes meet the minimal building code. Currently far too many in Canada do not. The building code focuses on health and safety of the occupants. #EnforceTheCode #CodeViolations #HealthAndSafety #cdnpoli

A lovely article in today's New York Times discusses how the American Dream of Housing Became a Reality in Sweden, written by Francesca Mari. In June 2023, Ivan Rupnik and his MOD X co-directors, along with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, traveled to Sweden to determine how to produce efficient industrialized housing in the United States. Between 1971 and 1973, a U.S. modular housing project called Operation Breakthrough established nearly 3000 units. Today, industrialized housing makes up just a 3 % market share in the U.S. Some key insights: * The Swedish factory Lindbäcks Bygg has been inspired by "How to Build a House Like a Volvo." * The productivity of factory construction could mean more permanent homes for more people faster. * The advantage is quality control and speed. * The difference between the United States and Sweden is in their regulatory, prescriptive, and performance codes. * A controlled environment isn't just good for workers; it's also suitable for the product. * Less energy used in construction and faster construction => developers can pay off construction loans and rent units sooner. The article also gives a glimpse of #SaraKulturhus, designed by Oskar Norelius, a partner at White Arkitekter. This building showcases delightful design and economized construction by designing for industrial production, with volumetric modular units assembled at Derome. #SwedenHousing #IndustrializedHousing #SustainableBuilding #EfficientHousing #QualityControl #GreenTransition 

What’s to become of Scarborough’s ‘Golden Mile?’ The historic Golden Mile in Scarborough, Ont. will be undergoing a massive transformation over the next few decades, bringing new life to a notable area. The City of Toronto’s Golden Mile Secondary Plan encompasses Eglinton Avenue between Victoria Park and Birchmount Road. The total area is about 280 acres. “It’s a complete redevelopment of those lands as they currently sit for the most part,” said Emily Caldwell, senior planner with the Scarborough District City Planning Division at the City of Toronto. Most of the existing properties will be redeveloped, she added. “There are a number of other sites as well that will be subject to redevelopment, a phased redevelopment because most of these sites are very large…they will be parceled off and developed in phases,” Caldwell explained. The 19-acre site where the Golden Mile shopping centre is located, 1880 Eglinton Ave. E., will be one of the first areas to undergo redevelopment. The mall is almost 70 years old. Choice Properties is the landowner and The Daniels Corporation is the developer. “That application has approvals for both official plan and zoning bylaw amendments,” Caldwell said. “The developers and landowners are submitting the phase one application which will be right at the immediate corner of Vic Park and Eglinton.” In addition to multiple buildings there will be multiple uses. “There are also proposed retail uses, there are residential uses, there is this community agency space and there is also potentially…the term used by Choice and Daniels is ‘communiversity,’ which is community university,” Caldwell explained. “They are proposing that some floors would be dedicated for that type of use in partnership with Centennial College and University of Toronto at Scarborough.” The Bank of Montreal is proposing to have their branch located there as well. It will be relocated from the existing location which is further east. The first part of the project will not require any demolition. Follow the author on X/Twitter @DCN_Angela.

All of the complaints on Facebook about this project in Fayetteville drive me mad. Complaints about the looks of this—building height—affordability—and how fayetteville isn’t the same as it was 17 years ago, 25 years ago, or 40 years ago. Get real, complainers! Nowhere is the same as it was in the past unless it is on the decline. I love the growth and change I have seen in this town in the 20 years I have lived here. And if you want affordability of housing and minimal environmental impact, you must have vertical height! That’s how you spread out the cost of the property to reduce land costs per unit. If you want public transportation, you need density. Otherwise doesn’t work. And to the architectural critics whose own homes and yards look like crap (some of those complaining I know and know where they live)—what gives you the right to complain? Who are you? Why is your opinion so valuable? What makes you know so much about design? One said her “creativity was stifled” because she cannot afford to create spaces here any longer. What spaces are those? One renovation of a small retail space and one very minor facelift of a bar—both in properties this person does not own? Sorry if you cannot afford to “create spaces” here. Maybe you should have a better job or more successful businesses. Maybe you should have furthered your education in business and design so you were more successful. The comments blow me away. One person said it costs $100/ft to build here now. They are out of their minds. That was 20 years ago. Another said rent should be restricted to $800 a month for a two bed apt regardless of inflation or costs. Let’s see if they can put the funds together to do that project! Others want caps on university enrollment—that’s the engine that is keeping this place alive vs declining. Others complained that the developers are from out of town. So what? What is so bad about that? What’s better—an empty surface parking lot or a mixed use quality building that people live in who support businesses and can walk where they need to go? Complainers—let’s see more doing from you personally, and less griping! https://lnkd.in/gNPsjQ5c

Everyone is forwarding the Center Francesca Mari's awesome, big-scope, well-written NY Times article on modular production -- but we are eager to share what the article did not have room to say. This is well-timed. MOD X teamed with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to program the #Innovative Housing Showcase last week, and the panelists Ivan Rupnik, Ryan E. Smith, Tyler Schmetterer, Solomon Greene gathered were truly the leaders of the industry. Watching folks like Michelle Boyd, Zeeshan Mirza, and Santiago Ossa sketch the path around structural barriers to housing innovation... it is worth looking up the transcripts in a few weeks! The article hits almost all the big lessons from Operation Breakthrough -- the need to update regulation, the pressure of dwindling construction labor, and the need to boost productivity. But! In it's high-level overview, it needed to skip a key note: industrialization speeds *products* to market, but true productivity gains await in *how* we connect these products together. This is why the Center for Offsite Construction is laser-focused on open-source connectivity standard to be shared by the entire US Construction Industry. Like the images of the article illustrate, ew can be mass-producing the complex parts of a home soon -- the expensive kitchens, bathrooms and utility rooms where trades must work around each other to complete work. *But* to make these products useful to the widest groups of builders, we need to pre-plan how to install these rooms, how to configure them, and help designers Join us in fixing this big piece! We excited to be talking with new friends at the International Code Council to map a collaboration with #HUD in defining some of these standards through Q3 & Q4! We're talking with elected officials about how these standards will speed jobs and higher pay to the New England. We're not stopping until the dream of this article is a reality. Join in by emailing Jason Van Nest or Mathew Ford today.

Adopted! City Council has officially adopted Madison Height's new Zoning Ordinance and Zoning Map! This represents the first true zoning overhaul in Madison Heights' history, and is the culmination of years of hard work from staff, our dedicated Planning Commissioners and City Council members, residents, business and property owners, and consultants. Our new Zoning Ordinance emphasizes clear and streamlined processes and user-friendly language to promote: ✔ Expanded housing options (duplexes, triplexes, quadplexes, townhomes, accessory dwelling units, mixed-use projects). ✔ Form-based development in our 'City Center' district to create a walkable, vibrant downtown. ✔ Flexible mixed uses in our 'Mixed Use Innovation' districts to allow adaptive reuse of older industrial buildings on small parcels and the redevelopment of underutilized parking lots. ✔Flexible parking standards to reduce the burden of minimum parking standards and ensure that we don't create more of these underutilized parking lots. ✔Innovative zoning tools, such as Planned Unit Developments and conditional rezonings, to allow for truly unique projects that could not be accommodated in base zoning districts. ✔Design standards for specific uses to ensure quality developments. ✔ And more! The new Zoning Ordinance can be accessed on our Planning Services website: https://lnkd.in/g_X_CviC Time to hit the ground running!

Parking reform and #missingmiddlehousing are fundamentally linked. 🔗 "To make [it] a truly viable form of housing, 'cities need to free these future homes from the tangle of regulations governing parking spaces.' " 🅿 Read more: https://lnkd.in/gMR2Nm2k #parking #parkingreform #parkingminimums #njhousing #housingreform #housingpolicy #buildmorehousing

Interesting read on the potentially sky-high construction costs of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs). When a total rebuild is structurally required to add living space above a garage, costs can climb into the mid-six figures for a 700 sf or smaller unit. That will deter most homeowners from building ADUs in the first place. It's good to hear that lifting unit size caps is being considered in a new citywide ADU ordinance. This would make family-sized units more viable and lower costs on a per square foot basis. And hopefully some car-free households will consider swapping unused garages for new housing. There are wonderful architects ready to meet new demand for ADUs once the program expands. A couple of these firms, active during the ADU pilot phase, are highlighted in the article: Via Chicago Architects + Diseñadores and Civic Projects. #ADU #AffordableHousing #HousingCrisis #Chicago https://bit.ly/3xSnots