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25 Solutions From A Builder’s Perspective To Fix The California Housing Crisis

ByRoy

It is more difficult today than it has ever been to bring new housing units to this state, but it shouldn’t be. Editorial by @HOUSINGFORLA on January 10, 2018, 12:00PM photos by HUNTER KERHART The California housing crisis is damaging our very existence. Homelessness is higher than any point during my lifetime. High housing costs are a drag…

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The Granny Flats Are Coming

ByRoy

A new book argues that the U.S. is about to see more accessory dwelling units and guides homeowners on how to design and build them. When Kol Peterson moved to Portland, Oregon, in 2010, affordable housing was a priority, as it was for many newcomers in this city’s booming real-estate market. He looked at two frequently…

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WHY WALKABLE STREETS ARE MORE ECONOMICALLY PRODUCTIVE

ByRoy

Oxnard Boulevard looks like a wasteland because of us. Oxnard’s poor old run down Oxnard Boulevard looks like a wasteland because we do not stand up for our main street. Demonstrate your care for Oxnard Boulevard, by coming to city council meetings week after week, to demand that Oxnard Boulevard become a successful walking and shopping street…

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Why tiny ADUs may be a big answer to the urban housing crisis

ByRoy

How accessory dwelling units, set to expand on the West Coast, present a small but mighty solution to affordability By Patrick Sisson  Jan 16, 2018, 12:34pm EST An ADU designed by Lanefab Design/Build, a Vancouver, Canada-based firm that specializes in designing these smaller homes. Courtesy Lanefab For cities starved of new housing, staring down an affordability crisis, and desperate for…

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Why We Code

ByRoy

Oxnard needs Form Based Zoning Codes for the Successor Agency (Redevelopment) properties. Form based codes will give developers proper guidance – they will know precisely what is wanted by Oxnard Planning before they submit a project. Without Form Based codes developers will not have proper direction and may build anything that meets current 50-year-old development standards and design…

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Renovating a Multipurpose Main Street

ByRoy

Greenville Avenue’s new streetscape (Source: City of Dallas)    Streetscape improvements have helped bring back an 18-hour-a-day character to the corridor. Crime has dropped and property values have risen.    Note: This case study was written for the Institute for Transportation Engineers new bookImplementing Context Sensitive Design on Multimodal Thoroughfares, funded by the Federal Highway Administration….

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Potential of Downtown Oxnard

ByRoy

Recently stated by others: “…Downtown Oxnard will never be the thriving hub of county commerce again, because 101 is now the main artery and other parts of the county, mostly near major thoroughfares, are now more developed.” Oxnard Renaissance: The 101 will not be king forever. Private cars, except for the very wealthy, will be a…

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65 Reasons Why Urbanism Works

ByRoy

Office space bordering Bryant Park in New York garner 63% higher rents than those one block away, thanks the economic value of urban parks. CreativeCommons image by Hazel Borys. RESEARCH 65 reasons why urbanism works Studies that quantify how urban places affect human, economic, and environmental wellness are essential to building the political will for…

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Reinventing Development Regulations

ByRoy

Every community across the land can and should revise their zoning and subdivision regulations — a move that will build sustainability and resilience, increase affordability, and improve quality of life, say the authors of a new book published by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. In Reinventing Development Regulations (Paperback / $35.00 / 213 pages / ISBN…

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25 Great Ideas of the New Urbanism

ByRoy

Rendering of I-980 in Oakland as a multi-way boulevard. Credit / Dover, Kohl & Partners The New Urbanism is a design movement toward complete, compact, connected communities—but it is also a generator of ideas that transform the landscape. Communities are shaped by the movement and flow of ideas, and the New Urbanism has been a…