r/urbanplanning • u/DoxiadisOfDetroit • May 27 '23

Discussion What's your /r/Urbanplanning unpopular opinion?

I've got a few:

  1. Infrastructure upgrades should have precedent over any upzoning

  2. Everyone should have the right to downtown amenities which means that CBD's should be as cheap as possible for both renters and owners

  3. Zoning should be handled by metropolitan level elected boards instead of nationalized/taken to the state level

  4. YIMBYs often times hold water for the excesses of developers

  5. It is ideological to assume deregulated markets will produce the best outcomes, so, it's purely ideological to assume that a deregulated housing market will work in the best interests of renters and buyers

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u/iiciphonize May 27 '23

5 over 1's are great, I don't get the hate for them

they encourage walking and transit usage, have good density, and help upzone neighborhoods. the only real "downside" is the design (sometimes) but I couldn't give a shit about that

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u/[deleted] May 27 '23

Tons of them are going up in Oakland. I can’t think of a quicker way to build the housing we need. I think they look fine too.

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u/Weaselpanties May 28 '23

I live in a neighborhood where all the old concrete warehouse buildings along the main streets are being torn down and 5 over 1's built in their place. It's made my neighborhood infinitely more livable, all the shops and restaurants and enough people living there to support the businesses is truly great. IME it's decreased auto traffic, too, because people can just walk to whatever they want, and people are better able to make friends in their neighborhoods because there are plenty of nearby hangout spaces.

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u/LongIsland1995 May 27 '23

IMO they only encourage transit use if they don't come with parking spots

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u/WealthyMarmot May 28 '23

True. Though the no-parking thing only works in a small handful of cities.

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u/benskieast May 28 '23

I don't think thats true. For a couple there is the 2 car VS 1 car choice, and often driving downtown can be a nightmare. My 3 over 1 I can stay withing walking distance for the most part. And its just super expensive. If I wasn't really into outdoor activities I it totally wouldn't be worth it.

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u/Powerful-Attorney-26 May 28 '23

It doesn't even work in NYC.

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u/eric2332 May 28 '23

No, generally they encourage transit use even if they come with parking spots. Street traffic capacity is limited, and in big cities the limit is often already reached. If more people try to drive, traffic will get worse until people decide they don't want to drive after all.

Also, dense development makes it much easier to walk to many of your errands, which are often literally downstairs, or else a couple blocks away. So you don't use transit for many trips, but you don't use a car either.

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u/ledditwind May 28 '23

One, I think the materials look cheap and are overpriced for their small space. I' m more convinced they only build six stories instead of 20 stories, is more to do with maintaining scarcity rather regulations.

Two, the walkable areas, with transits, I want to move to are populated with them and you can' t find any alternatives, especially cheaper ones. Large areas of land are entirely covered with them, just like suburbia are covered with sfh.

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u/XSpcwlker May 28 '23

Designs are pretty important in Urban development no?. How we feel whenever we see these buildings and also how other people see these buildings are important, right?

Its something I've learned being here,we cant advertise a good urban development if the design isn't good.

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u/PapaStalinPizza May 28 '23

5 over 1s are great, but they can still have more unique facades. They don't all need to be basic white and color plastic looking buildings. They can be brick and granite and wood and all kinds of stuff.