David King
@Davidjmking
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Fascinating read on the politics that enabled the New Zealand land use reforms. Especially interesting from the perspective of recent reforms in BC. And the central insight that breaking through NIMBY opposition requires intervention by higher levels of government.
🚨Hotly anticipated new paper! 🚨 The insider scoop on how NZ pulled off its up-zoning miracle, feat. hot takes direct from the politicians and public servants involved - incl. @cjsbishop @PhilTwyford @DavidParkerMP and more! https://t.co/eJwlpvf3M6
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Not just the public sector struggling with accounting approaches to software development
@SMTuffy One (but not the only) factor here is the mandatory amortization of developer costs starting in 2022. Because of forced amortization, a lot of developer salaries fall to the bottom line as taxable phantom "income," which significantly raises the cost of employing developers.
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For decades, cities only built tall or built sprawl. We’re changing that — by legalizing four units as-of-right.
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A friend of mine is opening two warehouses 60 minutes from each other in similar neighborhoods. One in Washington State another in British Columbia. The US one was built and operational in 3 months. The Canadian took 24 months *just* to get gov't approvals required.
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Canadian physical retail generally does well. Would guess that relatively slow online delivery is the cause. Amazon Prime here often means 4-7 day delivery...
It really is underdiscussed why Canadian malls continue to do just fine.
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Big UK developers are thought to stifle competition and innovation. Construction firms being *too small*, also a UK dynamic, may also reduce investment and productivity.
One of the biggest puzzles with housing affordability is why construction productivity growth is so low. This paper by an all-star team suggests an answer: housing regulation lowers scale of builders, limiting incentives to invest in innovative technologies.
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And that requires rebuilding capacity in local government, which is going to take time, money and political capital. From today’s Inside Politics newsletter by @JenWilliams_FT
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It's also kind of amazing, here's the @JustinTrudeau funding requirements. The part on "predictable funding for public transit" ties future money to allowing density w/in 800m of a transit line, and a housing needs assessment — also BC-pioneered reforms, already passed.
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Interesting parallels between construction and software in using a stable cross functional team to build
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But also Spaxman, LOL. The former head of the CoV planning department who oversaw the downzoning of Vancouver apparently can't imagine housing that's denser than single-detached subdivisions.
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Devolve power properly and this kind of innovation can occur then be scaled
Senior government sources also indicated that PMJT will inform other Premiers that if they implement a similar program to quickly build new units like BC has, they will extend the same low cost loans to those provinces and developers working on those new projects. #cdnpoli
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Good example of city regions still being too small/influenced by some resident groups, to unblock planning.
"Metro Vancouver regional planning report warns that the B.C. NDP’s plan to rapidly increase density through multi-family units on single family lots could upend decades of community planning and exacerbate urban sprawl." So decades of low density single family homes are ok but
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It was estimated that, due to the fact that pre WWII Britain demanded compensation for value lost due to planning restrictions that authorities zoned enough land for development to accommodate 290 million people.
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The Digital Code of Practice is now official operational policy, thanks to input from across #BcGov. - Find the full code at https://t.co/mktMU44JEu - Use the alignment guides to elevate your team's digital game Together, we can build more inclusive digital services. #DigitalBC
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I've not seen data on resi parking use downtown, but anecdotally, there are a surprising number of free spaces
Following new provincial legislation and the footsteps of the City of Vancouver, Surrey City Council will discuss tonight a motion to abolish minimum vehicle parking requirements in new residential buildings near rapid transit. #vanpoli #vanre
https://t.co/AYLWgOTlXD
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Similar logic to ‘there’s no brownfield left in UK cities!’
Manhattan from 100 years ago looks like SF's Sunset and Richmond today. Imagine of Manhattanites back then had said "Sorry, we're built out!" That's what SF has been doing for the past few decades.
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We need innovative solutions and new tools to tackle this housing crisis. 🏡 That’s why today we announced B.C. is creating new pre-approved residential designs for triplexes, fourplexes and laneway homes. 🧵 [1/3]
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NEW - BC has introduced legislation that will allow condo towers of up to 20 storeys near SkyTrain stations, up to 12 storeys near Metro Van "bus exchanges" and up to 10 storeys in Victoria/Kelowna bus exchanges. Municipalities can also choose to go higher on their own.
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