• Lugh@futurology.todayOPM
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    4 days ago

    They quote a cost of $1,000 per square meter (S100 sq foot). So I arrived at my calculation assuming a size of 100 sq m/1,000 sq feet for an average ‘starter home’ 2-bedroom dwelling.

    The fact that housing crises are occurring in so many Western countries suggests to me that there is something very fundamental that is broken and wrong with our system of supplying housing - one of life’s most basic human necessities.

    If the system is the problem, then the system can’t provide the solution, perhaps only radical new ways of doing things can?

    Germans have a system of purchasing property called “Wohnungsgenossenschaften”. It is where individuals come together in a not-for-profit cooperative, to build and finance their own apartment buildings and housing complexes. This technology seems a perfect fit for that, maybe we would all be better off in other western countries if we adopted this system more?

    • Alexstarfire@lemmy.world
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      4 days ago

      A problem is zoning laws. When they don’t let people build in places people want to live, what can you do?

      • CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org
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        3 days ago

        Which are actually mentioned in here! Obviously it’s not a barrier everywhere, though. They don’t really do it in the same way in Europe.

      • Lugh@futurology.todayOPM
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        4 days ago

        In most countries, people elect the local officials who make zoning decisions. It’s not a fundamental barrier.

        • CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org
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          3 days ago

          Yes. They got rid of single-home zoning in the big city nearest to me, recently. Check back in 10 years to find out how that went.

      • toasteecup@lemmy.world
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        4 days ago

        Not just where they want to live but also how. Don’t forget the amount of responsibility Ninny’s and HOAs have in denying new houses or more dense housing. Most neighborhoods for instance ban any kind of Multi family housing because “iTlL rUiN tHe ChArAcTeR oF tHe NeIgHbOrHoOd”

        • Alexstarfire@lemmy.world
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          4 days ago

          I’ve never seen that kind of language in an HOA. Not that I’ve seen a lot, but that’s certainly not common. That kind of stipulation is usually at the city or county level, with zoning laws.