[CAGeoNerd]

Originally Posted by wburg

The problem is that building affordable units in the central city can't be done without subsidy--the price of land is too expensive, and you can't just slap together cheap OSB and drywall single-family homes the way you can in a suburban neighborhood. The Warren is actually price-subsidized a bit, which is why the units are as affordable as they are. $400,000 is cheaper than the units at 17th and L or the ones above the Marriott, and they offer things that little single-family houses in the suburbs don't--like immediate proximity to the capitol and nearby state and business buildings, no lawn to take care of, views of Capitol Park and the coastal mountains. The units are affordable to someone making $60-80K a year, and for someone who works downtown, they probably wouldn't need to own a car, or if they did, they wouldn't have to drive to work, thus saving that expense.

Proximity and location are factors in home ownership--remember, the three rules of real estate are "location, location, location," not "square footage, square footage, square footage."

I understand you pay for location, but what I'm saying is a 600 sq ft 1-bedroom apartment is hardly a "singly family home". And the types of people who are the target buyers (young working professionals) can't afford those places. 400k? No young professional can afford that, especially today. There does not exist the demographics to support places which cost that much for so little.