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Mike Eliason Profile picture
@holz_bau
Aug 26, 2021 • 14 tweets • 5 min read • Read on X
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will note that none of the co-chairs of durkan's 'Seattle Affordable Middle-Income Housing Advisory Council' are middle class residents.

and at least half don't live in seattle.
missed this when it came out, this was just before we moved back from bayern...

but holy cow these recommendations are *pathetic*

@RayDubicki absolutely nailed the critique in the @UrbanistOrg

theurbanist.org/2020/01/30/the…
will note the basis for home prices in this table are the KC assessor - which runs well behind market rate. will also note how out of date these numbers already are in just two years

today, a single family home in seattle is over $1 million.
is this for real?
will note that adding another townhome unit on LR zones does not make them affordable to middle class households.

it does make them absurdly unusable.

as well as inaccessible.

(some of the advisory committee are market rate townhome developers)
there are no Mandatory Housing Affordability fees for single family houses

really concerning red flags about this report
when you definitely don't know how to read a proforma

thread on why this won't be accessible to middle class households here:
uhhh this is... not true.

well, the first part is - high land costs makes it nearly impossible to build family-friendly middle income housing.

however, increasing development capacity doesn't lower *land costs*
climate change denial
is a $500k 1-br affordable? a $900k townhouse? 🤔
oh look - our land and construction costs are so high - that even improving financing options doesn't make housing affordable to middle income households
anyway, it's not like this inadequate report, with outdated info - has any relevance today, with seattle rents climbing again, and metro area housing production numbers dropping like a brick...

theurbanist.org/2021/08/26/apa…
and this is what development looks like around light rail stations under construction

perhaps we should take notes from the suburbs of paris...

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More from @holz_bau

Mike Eliason Profile picture
May 20
will never understand why SDOT is so bad at planning and future-proofing for sustainable mobility

the dexter & thomas protected intersection is an expensive case study in how to prioritize cars instead of sustainable mobility, through poor planning
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and nearly every other intersection on dexter is an absolute sh*tshow

having one poorly planned protected intersection doesn't change that.

the poor network is the problem, and directly related to why seattle's bicycle mode share has remained a flat 3% for over 30 years.
if we actually made cars do what SDOT is making bicycles do at this intersection in more of the city - we might actually meet our vision zero goals

unfortunately, this design fails to prioritize sustainable mobility. the bike lane is too narrow, and not adaptable to higher usage
Read 4 tweets
Mike Eliason Profile picture
Mar 24
thinking about how wildly different quality of new 1-BR units are in US v. germany...

seattle (l): double loaded corridor. 800 sf. 36' deep. windowless BR. 1 window (!)

munich (r): point access block. 650 s.f. windows for BR/bath, k/d/l. ~16' deep. + 110 sf balcony.
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that character carries through to the interior. radically different quality of living, of daylight, of privacy in many cases as well.

again, seattle (l), v munich (r)


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can you imagine a 1 bedroom apartment with light on 3 sides?!?

twinned point access block w/ units from 1-3BRs.
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Read 10 tweets
Mike Eliason Profile picture
Mar 14
what is the cost of FAR wasted in townhomes?

30% of calc'd FAR of this back to back townhouse project is just... stairs

codes & regs & financing & poor construction quality make flats impossible at this scale

it's not insignificant. it's 1,300 s.f. Image
the opportunity cost of 4 separate townhomes over flats is basically an additional 3-BR unit.

imagine paying $850k for something like this - and knowing a third of your mortgage is just paying for stairs.

literally the dumbest sh*t i've seen in a minute.
this is exactly what harrell's comp plan is designed to induce.

it's not going to be affordable. it's not going to be accessible. it's going to continue to decimate biodiversity. it's going to reduce climate adaptation.

we're going backwards

Read 4 tweets
Mike Eliason Profile picture
Mar 3
i've given a number of talks about how poor quality of life is in US multifamily housing, and it's a central theme of my book...

a >1,400 sf 2BR with only 2 windows and none in the common area and one bedroom home is a first.

this is where building codes are headed in the US. Image
double loaded corridors. no limitations on building depth. absurdly high FAR. 50' dead end corridors.

this is where the IBC is headed. multifamily housing in other countries doesn't look anything like this.

and mass timber doesn't fix this problem.
quality of life in multifamily homes should not be substantially lower than that of detached houses

yet that is *exactly* what US building codes induce.

it isn't like this in other countries.

without substantial change (legalizing taller point access blocks) it'll get worse
Read 12 tweets
Mike Eliason Profile picture
Feb 23
car free streets. hundreds of businesses. how do they even survive?

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the answer?

early morning or late night deliveries

deliveries by bike, scooter or hand cart

density isn't limited to a block or two off the street but continues forever

no single family zoning

pedestrian priority

mixed use zoning

point access blocks w/ small footprints
we've eaten at several incredible places that have at most 10 seats

the abundance of buildings with minuscule footprints allow for a ridiculous amount of commercial diversity on ground floor (and above/below)
Read 11 tweets
Mike Eliason Profile picture
Jan 4
i should do a thread on elevator to unit ratios in other countries...

i'll start with this one, just because it's pretty low:

basel (CH)
(8) elevators in (2) 3-story buildings, serving just 48 units.

elev to unit ratio: 1:6

baudokumentation.ch/projekt/wohnen…
the stunning swiss coop in this thread

basel (CH)
(12) elevators in (12) connected 5-story buildings, serving 125 units.

elev to unit ratio: 1:10.4

luca selva's wohnueberbauung densa park

basel (CH)

(8) elevators in (2) 5-story+ DG buildings, serving 99 units.

elev to unit ratio: 1:12.4

baudokumentation.ch/projekt/wohnue…
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Read 14 tweets

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