In 2019, Seattle made it easier to build accessory dwelling units (ADUs). Among other things, they started allowing two ADUs per lot, they stopped requiring the owner to live on site, and they stopped requiring off-street parking. The result is that the city is now… Read More
Michael Beach used to have a YouTube channel where he “looked at Google Maps a lot.” Meaning, he would pan around various cities and comment on their planning and overall built form. Technically the channel still exists, but he stopped making new videos a few… Read More
Lloyd Alter of Treehugger recently wrote about this infill housing project in Paris. Designed by Mobile Architectural Office (MAO), it is a 6-storey building with 6 residential suites (two of which are 3-storey triplex suites) and 1 ground floor non-residential space. Building section: But here’s… Read More
If you’re looking to pass a new ordinance and/or create a new tax, it’s important to have the right name. Take, for example, Los Angeles’ new “mansion tax.” The majority of people do not have a so-called “mansion.” And so signaling to people that you’re… Read More
Here is an interesting chart, from Mike Moffat, that looks at housing completions — both ownership and rental — in the province of Ontario. The way to read this chart is that, for each date, you are looking at completions for the previous 10 years.… Read More
The latest issue of Designlines magazine is about how Toronto is — finally — embracing laneway life. And one of the featured homes is none other than Mackay Laneway House. Pictured above is architect Gabriel Fain sitting on the front steps. As some of you… Read More
This is a lovely little infill rental project in Tokyo by ETHNOS (architect) for Real Partners (developer): The building is 4 storeys plus a rooftop terrace. From the plans, it looks like there are 8 units, all of which are two-storey suites. The A and… Read More
I received an email from a reader over the weekend saying that my comments around rent control have been too critical, and that they are not doing proper justice to the challenges that renters face in today’s cities. I thought this was a fair comment… Read More
This is an interesting way of seeing rental housing rents (national scale). And there’s a lot that you can glean from a mapping like this. But it’s also interesting in that what you are seeing here is a visualization of some 11 million Craigslist rental… Read More
All of the talk of people moving to Miami over the last two years is certainly coming through in the numbers. According to this recent rental report by Realtor.com, residential rents in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach metro area increased 55.3% on a year-over-year basis… Read More
BRANDON DONNELLY 