Why North America zoning and building codes mean developers can't build nice family friendly "missing middle" housing/apartments (www.youtube.com)

submitted 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) by NarrativeBear@lemmy.world to c/canada@lemmy.ca

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We need to make our cities and towns more family friendly. This is called the "missing middle" in housing, and it's why in north america all we see are either large condo towers or single family homes, which also drives our urban sprawl problems.

Almost all new large towers/buildings in north america prioritize bachelor's units 1 and 2 bedroom units. Trying to find a well priced 3 or 4 bedroom in a "lively" downtown center, close to transit and work, with plenty of schooling in the area is almost impossible. It's also a factor in why cities became so empty during the pandemic, ie. Not to many families living permanently in cities.

Here's a good article that also talks about the same issue with some different apparment layouts, and why developers don't provide adequate family units.

https://www.centerforbuilding.org/blog/we-we-cant-build-family-sized-apartments-in-north-america

This together with zoning requirements in north america is pushing most cities and developers to only cater towards large towers or single family housing.

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[-] NarrativeBear@lemmy.world 7 points 11 months ago

This video is also worth a watch to see how this ties in with car dependency in cities and suburbs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCOdQsZa15o

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[-] otter@lemmy.ca 6 points 11 months ago

Huh interesting

My gut reaction was that larger apartment buildings could use space more efficiently, but this was an interesting discussion about the other details around the layout

[-] SideshowBoz@lemmy.world 6 points 11 months ago

His whole series is worth watching. And seriously, this post is so much more informative and less party-politics than the other post on here about that “war-time” housing plan 🙄

[-] HubertManne@kbin.social 3 points 11 months ago

three bedrooms exist but are way costly compared to one or two bedrooms such that people might as well buy a detached house. Then also a condo will have much less general space. basements, attics, yards, and garages mean that even a rinky little two bedroom house will have much more space than a four bedroom condo.

[-] NarrativeBear@lemmy.world 5 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

You are correct they do exist in small quantities, and they do cost more then a single family home.

The reason the cost is higher is because apartment designs with a single long corridor down the middle cause a 3 or 4 bedroom coming off that corridor to usually have 200~300 sq foot more then needed in the layout/design.

Compared to a point access layout for example where layouts can be arranged in a multitude of ways and layouts can become more efficient in use of space.

This article here demonstrates these layouts a little better then I can, it also shows how the sq footages increases as more bedrooma are added along the single corridor layout.

https://www.centerforbuilding.org/blog/we-we-cant-build-family-sized-apartments-in-north-america

So all these factors essential drive a choice of either living in the suburbs in a single family home, or a 1 or 2 bedroom large condo towers in a city center.

The trouble with this is we are "missing the middle" housing as shown in these videos. Homes for growing families that don't want to live in the suburbs and don't or can't fit into a two bedroom apartment tower, or can't afford the 4 bedroom condo layout. Or families that don't want to stick their kid into a den without a window.

We need homes such a 4 plexes, 3-4 level condos, laneway homes, all the layouts that are essentially illegal in north america to build.

[-] HubertManne@kbin.social 3 points 11 months ago

That increase is square footage with additions bedrooms is strange and seems a bit limited. I feel they are working under the theory all bedrooms have to have windows. We have one bedroom cooridoor condos that only have windows in the living space and the bedroom is windowless. The tree bedroom could easily have two on the left with a bathroom between them but one would be windowless and then the square footage would not need to be blown up.

[-] Magiccupcake@startrek.website 6 points 11 months ago

Bedrooms do have to have windows or a door to the outside to be legally a bedroom.

[-] corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca 2 points 11 months ago

windows or a door to the outside

Wow, do slimeball realtors play fast and loose with those regulations. I've seen "window to the living room" as the safety feature in a bedroom. Many of them here, too, brazenly show an 8x8 windowless space as a 'bedroom'; and with the demand, they can afford a few people questioning that.

[-] HubertManne@kbin.social 2 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Not in chicago. Very common to have a bedroom that is almost right in the middle of the condo. door to the rest of the condo but not outside. Maybe they get away on some technicality bit its a common thing I have seen. It allows them to do these thin long condos in the high rises

[-] NarrativeBear@lemmy.world 2 points 11 months ago

That may be classified as a bachelor's unit with a "den", at least that's how it would be in Canada. A bedroom is only legally a bedroom once it has a window per the Ontario build code at least.

Though this is the issue, raising a family with two or more kids in a condo may not be something everyone would like to do. It's all personal preference in the end.

The trouble is the choice in the market is limited in types of homes, the desire may be there to find something other then a large condo tower, or a single family home, but developers cant build them because of the code.

So people can only choose to find a larger more expensive condo tower with a 3~4 full debrooms layout (which is hard), or move into a single family home in the suburbs a few hours out of the city center (which increases the commute).

[-] HubertManne@kbin.social 2 points 11 months ago

yeah. they advertise it as a bedroom but I would not be surprised if the paperwork did something like you say. Many of the traditional things have been being slanted for decades. what is called a studio nowadays would be called an efficiency when I was young.