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Old Posted May 20, 2008, 1:04 AM
quobobo quobobo is offline
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Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Vancouver
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jlousa
I would state that no regulation would greatly increase affordability, but no because of the increased supply, more because of the reduced demand. The reason that makes Vancouver so expensive and desired is the ammenties provided. Seawalls built by developers, parks provided by them, public art, revitalization of ammenties (Capitol/Orphuem) DCLs paying for libraries, community centres etc. If we took away regulations and those things would no longer be required, the appeal of Vancouver would diminish over time. Leading to that extra supply and less demand to absorb it, prices would surely come down, but would it matter? Would we still want to live here?
We have created our own problem but it might just be better then the alternative.
I don't see why less regulations has to mean fewer amenities - simply pay for the same level of amenities with everyone's property taxes instead of charging developers. This way new residents will still pay their share of the cost for amenities, and the system will be much more transparent. It's easy to vote/lobby for amenities when it seems like someone else is paying the entire cost, but people might think twice when faced with the real costs.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bert View Post
Edit: a more sobering morning look with a clearer head tells me that the authors of the paper significantly underestimated social costs of building and other factors (as per my critiques in post #61 above), while at the same time, jlousa is saying I significantly underestimated construction costs. Putting 2 + 2 together, heights should only be a little bit taller, and I'm not certain prices would come down by very much at all. I say towers would definitely be a little bit taller, because developers today routinely build to height limits, so marginal costs can't be meeting marginal revenue already, but I'm closer to my original position of density only having a small impact on affordability than I was yesterday night.
Keep in mind that construction costs here are somewhat inflated because of all the Olympic projects.. but I don't know how significant that is. If someone here knows more about this, please fill me in.

Also, what about most of Vancouver outside the downtown core? I wouldn't be terribly surprised if towers downtown were somewhat close to their optimal heights, but if single-family homes are anywhere near optimal height/density in most parts of the city I would be shocked. I'm not sure how to calculate this, so any help would be appreciated.
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