About
Why is housing so expensive in the San Francisco Bay Area? People, mostly the least fortunate of us, are getting displaced away from city centers where the jobs are and increasing commute costs take its toll on family finances. The increasing bridge tolls and BART tickets don't help. All this extra commuting wastes time and money, while damaging the environment.
Is it the increasing demand for housing? Yes, demand is increasing, but with increasing demand, supply in free markets will typically increase with demand. Why isn't this happening? Some say there's no more space. In a sense, this is somewhat true. There aren't as many swaths of flat land available for cheap mass developments. But land is still available and industrial or other uses of land continually open up. There are also areas that can stand major increases in density. San Francisco is nowhere near as dense, nor anywhere close to as big a land deficit as Hong Kong and yet the costs per square foot are approaching that of Hong Kong.
I design houses for a living in the San Francisco Bay Area and I will tell stories of how architects have one hand tied behind their backs when designing and going through the process of getting a home designed, entitled, permitted, and built. These are stories of how various people and agencies, intentionally or not, hold the architecture hostage in exchange for what they want. These are, in effect, a collection of architecture ransom notes.
Note: I will not be naming any individuals, firms, companies, city staff, or elected officials. For the most part, I will not even name cities since it would be too easy to trace to individuals, unless I'm talking about things like codes and ordinances, since it's already part of the public record. Any request for specific names will be denied.
Is it the increasing demand for housing? Yes, demand is increasing, but with increasing demand, supply in free markets will typically increase with demand. Why isn't this happening? Some say there's no more space. In a sense, this is somewhat true. There aren't as many swaths of flat land available for cheap mass developments. But land is still available and industrial or other uses of land continually open up. There are also areas that can stand major increases in density. San Francisco is nowhere near as dense, nor anywhere close to as big a land deficit as Hong Kong and yet the costs per square foot are approaching that of Hong Kong.
I design houses for a living in the San Francisco Bay Area and I will tell stories of how architects have one hand tied behind their backs when designing and going through the process of getting a home designed, entitled, permitted, and built. These are stories of how various people and agencies, intentionally or not, hold the architecture hostage in exchange for what they want. These are, in effect, a collection of architecture ransom notes.
Note: I will not be naming any individuals, firms, companies, city staff, or elected officials. For the most part, I will not even name cities since it would be too easy to trace to individuals, unless I'm talking about things like codes and ordinances, since it's already part of the public record. Any request for specific names will be denied.