Should Midtown increase its maximum floor area ratio to allow downtown-level density? (Atlanta: middle-class)

[bryantm3]

i was just thinking about this, because i keep seeing it mentioned on here that the zoning in midtown doesn't allow residential or commercial densities as high as downtown. i'm wondering if maybe this is a mistake, and perhaps what's leading midtown developments to focus on luxury units with parking decks? the limitation could be artificially raising commercial and residential prices in midtown higher than what they would be otherwise. would an increased floor area ratio in midtown loosen up the market in midtown enough to attract more middle-class oriented retail and housing?

[jsvh]

FAR needs to go away all together. Some form based zoning makes sense in limited places. But FAR is not effective at things like preventing buildings from blocking light or fitting in with the area. It is just a straight artificial limit on the supply of hosing / commercial.

[bryantm3]

Originally Posted by jsvh

FAR needs to go away all together. Some form based zoning makes sense in limited places. But FAR is not effective at things like preventing buildings from blocking light or fitting in with the area. It is just a straight artificial limit on the supply of hosing / commercial.

just in general, i hate how zoning is intentionally complex. it's designed expertly for a specific group of people to use as a social engineering tool for the masses, but full of legalese and codes and complexities that most people don't have the time to understand. we need a revamp of the NPU system.

[MattCW]

If that's true that higher densities are not allowed, then yes, it absolutely needs to go.

[bryantm3]

on page 24 of this document it has the maximum floor area ratios. (thx ant)
https://www.midtownatl.com/_files/do...lines_rdcd.pdf

midtown is capped at 10.2 to 1, which means you can only build a structure that has a floor area of 10.2 times the lot size, or a 10 story building if you were using the entire lot. high rises in midtown are getting away with building taller because they're building these skinny buildings on the edge of a big lot. but it really seems like a waste of space. the rich people who live in midtown are pretty deliberately manipulating the zoning to make luxury apartments and high-end retail the only economically viable option for developers.

[Street Advocate]

With development trends in Atlanta, Midtown Alliance’s FAR is flat out a missed opportunity for Atlanta to provide more housing and businesses in one of its most active neighborhoods and nearby by its largest parkspace (but Westside reservoir! Not yet active parkspace and will not support nearly as much housing with the recent land use development patterns of enclave/culdesac townhouse and SFH “neighborhoods” being developed in the surrounding areas). While Midtown doesn’t need necessarily the same density of downtown, I agree with JSVH that FAR is not practacle and form based code would be much more appropriate.

[testa50]

FAR is stupid. It’s a somewhat complicated issue, but in general, stupid.