Comments on: Bringing Basements to Code http://urbanomnibus.net/2010/03/bringing-basements-to-code/ Exploring the culture of citymaking Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:28:36 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Karl http://urbanomnibus.net/2010/03/bringing-basements-to-code/comment-page-1/#comment-184847 Karl Thu, 05 May 2011 03:48:41 +0000 http://urbanomnibus.net/?p=14048#comment-184847 Interesting discussion. We have similar issues here in Perth, Western Australia around the University campuses due to the low density housing and lack of affordable student/low income housing. A few 'entrepreneurs' in the area bought up old, large family homes that were run down and in undesirable areas near Universities, put up partition walls and essentially converted a 4 bedroom 1970s family home into an 'illegal' 10 room hostel, each rooms sleeping around 2-4 people (mainly international students from China). I have had the pleasure of inspecting some of these houses while doing a short stint working for the local council, and the conditions were appalling. Some rooms had no air or natural light, building and electrical fittings were shoddy, kitchen spaces filthy and unhygienic.. and the tenants were paying $80-100 AUD each a week for this, and they were too afraid to complain to the landlord and get kicked out! At the same time we have influential members in the community who are actively fighting against purpose built medium-high density student housing around/near University campuses as they are concerned about trivial issues such as increased noise and parking congestion. Surely there must be a better way to tackle this issue? Student need to have affordable, high quality dwellings in close proximity to their place of study (this means reduced/no need for a car- so reduced parking/congestion issues). There needs to be a big shake up in planning and building policy in Western Australia to address this issue, as it is only going to get worse otherwise. Interesting discussion. We have similar issues here in Perth, Western Australia around the University campuses due to the low density housing and lack of affordable student/low income housing. A few ‘entrepreneurs’ in the area bought up old, large family homes that were run down and in undesirable areas near Universities, put up partition walls and essentially converted a 4 bedroom 1970s family home into an ‘illegal’ 10 room hostel, each rooms sleeping around 2-4 people (mainly international students from China).

I have had the pleasure of inspecting some of these houses while doing a short stint working for the local council, and the conditions were appalling. Some rooms had no air or natural light, building and electrical fittings were shoddy, kitchen spaces filthy and unhygienic.. and the tenants were paying $80-100 AUD each a week for this, and they were too afraid to complain to the landlord and get kicked out!

At the same time we have influential members in the community who are actively fighting against purpose built medium-high density student housing around/near University campuses as they are concerned about trivial issues such as increased noise and parking congestion.

Surely there must be a better way to tackle this issue? Student need to have affordable, high quality dwellings in close proximity to their place of study (this means reduced/no need for a car- so reduced parking/congestion issues). There needs to be a big shake up in planning and building policy in Western Australia to address this issue, as it is only going to get worse otherwise.

]]> By: Edwin Dei http://urbanomnibus.net/2010/03/bringing-basements-to-code/comment-page-1/#comment-42387 Edwin Dei Sun, 19 Sep 2010 16:38:39 +0000 http://urbanomnibus.net/?p=14048#comment-42387 “Nearly 40% of the new housing created from 1990 to 2005 were illegal apartments...” -Seema Agnani, Executive Director, Chhaya Community Development Corporation I was struck by the figure, 40%, which I find quite extraordinary. But I guess given the need for affordable housing it shouldn’t be that surprising. My question is do you have this figure broken down in terms of the 5 boroughs of NYC? For example, what proportion of the 40% exists in say Brooklyn? If not, are you aware of any additional information that could be helpful to me in trying to figure out how much to attribute to each of the 5 boroughs? I’d appreciate you help in this matter. Sincerely, Edwin Dei “Nearly 40% of the new housing created from 1990 to 2005 were illegal apartments…” -Seema Agnani, Executive Director, Chhaya Community Development Corporation

I was struck by the figure, 40%, which I find quite extraordinary. But I guess given the need for affordable housing it shouldn’t be that surprising.

My question is do you have this figure broken down in terms of the 5 boroughs of NYC? For example, what proportion of the 40% exists in say Brooklyn? If not, are you aware of any additional information that could be helpful to me in trying to figure out how much to attribute to each of the 5 boroughs? I’d appreciate you help in this matter.

Sincerely,

Edwin Dei

]]> By: Steven Moyano http://urbanomnibus.net/2010/03/bringing-basements-to-code/comment-page-1/#comment-18055 Steven Moyano Mon, 17 May 2010 16:06:59 +0000 http://urbanomnibus.net/?p=14048#comment-18055 What a great article. The need for affordable housing and the consequences of enforcing the current building code should compel us to think outside-the-box and consider other alternatives. This is truly the first time I see this problem addressed in such a way and hope its taken into consideration when addressing this most serious housing issue. What a great article. The need for affordable housing and the consequences of enforcing the current building code should compel us to think outside-the-box and consider other alternatives. This is truly the first time I see this problem addressed in such a way and hope its taken into consideration when addressing this most serious housing issue.

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