When will Boston start building more homes and using space more efficiently (Lynn: apartment complex, neighborhoods)

[bigfatdude]

Well then, why whine about it if that triple decker you got for a cool $0.00 when gramps bought the farm is now worth a cool $1,000,000? Don't like the density and the crowding? Sell it to one of the newcomers and buy something else somewhere else.

Originally Posted by Sotsgreen

If housing is too expensive for new arrivals relative to their incomes many of them won't move. Many people move from parts of the country that have less expensive real estate and that makes it more expensive for them to move relative to someone already here. Many people here have equity in homes from generations of being here, even if they are only modest places.

People here also get good jobs, it's not only people that move here.

Not building as much still keeps it less crowded.

Among domestic residents, this state actually loses residents to other states.

[bugelrex]

Originally Posted by massnative71

How will better transit to those places ease the housing issue or add to the supply? All it will do is raise the desirability of those places (and prices). Downtown is dense enough, it is already becoming too New Yorkified and that goes against what makes Boston Boston. More developments by transit stations? Do you have examples of existing stations with available/developable land abutting it?

If the market is efficient, the increase in desirability will cause developers to start building where there is available land. Either new houses or tearing old houses into large condo complexes.

The biggest obstacle is the NIMBY factor

[tysmith95]

Originally Posted by massnative71

Do you have examples of existing stations with available/developable land abutting it?

Sullivan Square is very underdeveloped, they could easily get rid of that surface parking lot. Wonderland and Suffolk Downs on the blue line present a great opportunity to add thousands of units. The surface lots at Oak Grove, Wellington, North Quincy, and Wollaston could be developed into assembly like developments. Boston should not densify in suburban areas, that'll just make traffic worse than it already is.

[Sotsgreen]

Originally Posted by massnative71

We can only guide how it's done

The existing rules determine how much gets built on an piece of land. Even if there is nothing on the land at all, rules can limit too much density or construction.

Originally Posted by bigfatdude

Well then, why whine about it if ... and buy something else somewhere else.

Those are snide assumptions.

The people already here aren't leaving because the get good jobs, not just the new comers, and they are already living in a place that has more expensive real estate. If the "new comers" with the new jobs don't think there pay is going to be enough relative to the cost of moving to a place with more expensive real estate, then they can make the decision accordingly. As other people have mentioned about the congestion, it's doesn't seem beneficial to continue to expand in only some areas.

You also don't seem to understand that the crowding just in the city but also in the suburbs, and people who stay here didn't just grow up in the city.

Originally Posted by bugelrex

If the market is efficient, the increase in desirability will cause developers to start building where there is available land. Either new houses or tearing old houses into large condo complexes.

The biggest obstacle is the NIMBY factor

Most people don't want a house near them turned into a large condo complex, that's not just NIMBY. Talking about all traffic everyone here mentioned, zoning to preserve some open space is good.

[Whatsnext75]

Driving down 93S today there does appear to be a lot of spaces in Dorchester. Even that area where venezia restaurant is seems like it could have a lot more homes/apartments.

I dont really have sympathy towards this subject. There ARE places to live but people are greedy and picky and it's just not exactly what they want. Oh well. And that's how gentrification happens. People cant find what they want for the price they want so they have to sometimes move to a less desirable neighborhood. Look at somerville.

If boston keeps on the way it is this also will likely become a place people in their 20s and 30s move to in order to make a lot of money then move back to where they came from or somewhere cheaper. Kind of like NYC. Few people end up making nyc their home. I think people did make boston their home but it's becoming less and less attractive to many if you're not in that 1%

Boston does have a lot to offer but it isnt always easy to take advantage of what it has. Today i took my son to the science museum and what a sh*tshow it was. I live in southie and there was traffic getting there at 11am, traffic coming home and of course the place was a madhouse. I feel that way anytime i go to a museum. I get it, it's Saturday but I work full time and this is the time i can go. So again, im sure boston is great if you dont work and you have someone rich to support you.

[JacksonPanther]

Originally Posted by Whatsnext75

Boston does have a lot to offer but it isnt always easy to take advantage of what it has. Today i took my son to the science museum and what a sh*tshow it was. I live in southie and there was traffic getting there at 11am, traffic coming home and of course the place was a madhouse. I feel that way anytime i go to a museum. I get it, it's Saturday but I work full time and this is the time i can go. So again, im sure boston is great if you dont work and you have someone rich to support you.

You just nailed one of the reasons I left Chicago. Every time you want to do something, you have to account for the fact that 20,000 other people had the exact same idea. Want to see Obama's goodbye speech? Line up for hours in the below freezing cold, then receive a ticket that puts you in the back.

Restaurants with 2 hour waits.

Events so crowded you either get there 6 hours early, or you're in the very rear and can't see anything.

You get to the point where you wonder why you're paying the premium to live where you do.

[Whatsnext75]

Yup i dont enjoy going out to eat anymore. The only time there's no wait is if you have reservation or you go to dinner at like 330pm. Forget last minute dinner plans.

[bjimmy24]

Originally Posted by JacksonPanther

You get to the point where you wonder why you're paying the premium to live where you do.

Precisely. I find it hard to justify living in the so-called "premier" cities actuallyou, boston included...

[bigfatdude]

Originally Posted by bjimmy24

Precisely. I find it hard to justify living in the so-called "premier" cities actuallyou, boston included...

Most are tolerable in the long run as long as you're willing to slum it up for a few years while saving for a down payment. Problem is, most of the millennials with mid-17th century Inuit art history degrees expect a Ritz penthouse and Rene Redzepi-catered meals right off the bat on their $12.50/hour clipboard warrior paycheck.

[Whatsnext75]

But what is so premium about a place where it's difficult yo do things in a city where everyone else is trying to do the same thing? From where to live to what restaurant to go to.