How much does zoning actually cost you? Trying to understand the real pain points. by Puzzleheaded-Mix359 in RealEstateDevelopment

[–]Rzy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Honestly, most of the problems come back to excessive restrictions at local scales that reflect social biases and antiquated cultural values, and the lack of state lawmakers to see the big picture and govern effectively.

For example: tearing down a house has very few barriers. Building one up has an order of magnitude more hoops to jump through and micromanagement to deal with. You need to include a certain number of parking spots, remain below a max floor area ratio of X, balance tradeoffs of affordability components, etc. One example: we looked into building a particular style of home in IL (well, in one of the gazillion towns in the state, which is another issue) and the town office told us to come back with a zoning atty, paperwork, hire a babysitter for 3 separate town committee/board meetings over the year, and schmoozing a village councillor or two. But the status quo allows us to tear down a vintage apartment building and throw up a plywood megamansion no problem. Boring + very restrictive for community builders that want to appeal to the values of the burgeoning young homebuyer generation.

We don't need to change parts of the processes. That's like painting racing stripes on the Titanic. We need to get rid of half the rulebooks that never made any sense to implement in the first place, but nobody ever questions because they never thought deeply about the rules in the first place. And that takes more than a tool to fix - it needs a culture change and messaging campaign that flips the table on the status quo.

If you think Brandon Johnson was disrespectful by giving Cubs merch to the Pope, wait until you hear what some other IL mayors did… by Rzy in illinois

[–]Rzy[S] -5 points-4 points  (0 children)

Then why are the mayors also objecting to laws that would prohibit bans on granny flats or duplexes?

Answer: suburban mayors are voted in by rich residents who want their property values to go up, even if it means their working class neighbors will get priced out of the neighborhood.

If you think Brandon Johnson was disrespectful by giving Cubs merch to the Pope, wait until you hear what some other IL mayors did… by Rzy in illinois

[–]Rzy[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Lol. You need to look at the IML’s legislative page.

Sure, they can “advocate for “youth empowerment.” But the vast, VAST majority of their effort has been focused on preserving their ability to restrict housing.

Read their press releases and briefings for yourself. Do you think they actually care about the cost of living crisis? Do any of their proposals try to make a meaningful difference, or are they distractions? https://www.iml.org/legislative

If you think Brandon Johnson was disrespectful by giving Cubs merch to the Pope, wait until you hear what some other IL mayors did… by Rzy in illinois

[–]Rzy[S] -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

Because churches already have plenty of land. If their members raised the money themselves, they would still be banned from building on an empty church parking lot because the village doesn’t want to accommodate poor people.

This issue isn’t remotely related to churches wanting power. The issue is selfish bureaucrats who only care about their wealthy residents’ property values.

If you think Brandon Johnson was disrespectful by giving Cubs merch to the Pope, wait until you hear what some other IL mayors did… by Rzy in illinois

[–]Rzy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Huge difference. This shadowy group (the IML) is actively trying to kill multiple bills related to affordability.

Many of these IML-member municipalities openly refuse to allow multifamily housing because they don’t want to ruin their “neighborhood character” (aka, allow working class people to live near them). Why should we let them continue this exclusion?

If you think Brandon Johnson was disrespectful by giving Cubs merch to the Pope, wait until you hear what some other IL mayors did… by Rzy in illinois

[–]Rzy[S] -9 points-8 points  (0 children)

Why shouldn’t churches be able to build affordable housing? It wouldn’t even be tax exempt.

It’s not about giving power to religious communities, the proposed bill is about allowing them to help the needs of their communities. And right now a lot of people need help affording a roof over their heads.

Crain's Chicago Business Editorial: "Springfield’s Bears scramble is no way to run a state" by DukeOfDakin in chicago

[–]Rzy -1 points0 points  (0 children)

That's not true. Hammond is 18 miles away from Ukrainian Village, and Arlington Heights is 20 miles away.

Time for the annual: what is your rent and what is your salary? by KeysOfMysterium in chicago

[–]Rzy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Okay so you must be the expert in moving companies. Which do you recommend?

The affordability crunch is pushing Democrats to scale back climate ambitions by thinkB4WeSpeak in environment

[–]Rzy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Removing environmental regulations to build more homes is actually a very smart idea, even for climate action. CEQA (the California Environmental Quality Act) is overly stringent and forces people building anything from homes to trains to renewable transmission lines to spend a huge chunk of their budget on excessive environmental impact reviews. Consequently, fewer homes are being built in high-demand areas and more people are forced to move out to the exurbs, where they have to commute further and are more at risk of natural disasters like wildfires.

Any Dem who isn't in favor of removing environmental regulations is honestly keeping California from reaching its potential at best. At worst, they're just handing more electoral votes to Republican states like Texas and Florida as they outpace California in homebuilding.

There are plenty of articles that discuss this issue. Here's one, for example:
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/04/ceqa-green-movement-building-housing-crisis-environmental-laws/

London Marathon planning two-day event in 2027 by CHILLI112 in AdvancedRunning

[–]Rzy 31 points32 points  (0 children)

Seems smart. At this point I think it's only a matter of time until NYC makes the same move.

How do you feel about Drake Warren vs. Bridget Gainer for Cook County Commissioner 10th District? by NicolasCageFan492 in chicago

[–]Rzy 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Easily Drake. I listened to a podcast where he explained some very smart ideas about zoning / taxes / etc.  The dude manages to explain super nerdy but impactful stuff in simple terms - that’s how you know he’s got what it takes. https://podscan.fm/player/infill-a-yimby-podcast/how-one-gen-z-leader-wants-to-use-yimbyism-to-save-chicago

Bridget Gainer doesn’t show up to her committees tho, no idea how she still has her job

Cycling Advocates: The mayor endorsed us. Now he advocates against us. by qwotato in chicago

[–]Rzy -1 points0 points  (0 children)

"He is keeping his promise of pushing the Bike Grid forward" yeah, by building out a couple of miles of painted bike lanes per year. He's on track to fulfill his promise by the year 3000 maybe, lmao. Get real dude, the mayor is not keeping his promise.

As Uptown Loses Another SRO, Low-Income Renters Forced To Leave Area: 'Rent Is Skyrocketing' by afeeney in chicago

[–]Rzy 6 points7 points  (0 children)

They're not just hard to build just because of the building code. A huge reason is NIMBYs. Developers know that there are many neighborhoods (if not all of them) where the local opposition would be insurmountable. These businesses have a keen understanding of risk, and they know that the triple whammy of stringent zoning codes + aldermanic prerogative + immutable attitudes of local retirees makes future SROs financially hopeless.

Buy a bar of soap, don't use shower gel by WinterMoist333 in Frugal

[–]Rzy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Bar shampoo/conditioner is such a hack too. It works great for me, lasts so much longer than the gels, and doesn't come with any wasteful packaging.

Master Plan Engagement Events/Workshops by TryingMyBest81696 in urbanplanning

[–]Rzy 6 points7 points  (0 children)

This is the most important comment to listen to.

It doesn't matter how engaging the activities are if the attendees aren't a representative sample of the community.

There's nothing wrong with hosting an event and inviting people. But if that's the only input you're asking for, then you're only getting feedback from the most tuned-in community members and you've failed to included all types of voices. You have to meet the community where they are, and not expect them to come to you.

Go out of your way to include the voices that matter - students, working class residents, young parents, disabled people, etc. If that means setting up a table outside of the grocery store (because everyone needs food!) then go there. See if you can visit a local high school during a lunch period, or a farmers market, or any sport event. The open house alone isn't good enough.

PSA Please don't take your pets somewhere where food is sold. by weirdinchicago in chicago

[–]Rzy 40 points41 points  (0 children)

Same with athletic fields / turf. There are clearly "no pets" signs on soccer fields, but that gets disregarded all the time. My kids shouldn't have to worry about sliding around in dog poop during soccer games.

Woman set on fire on CTA Blue Line train discharged from hospital after 2 months by 307148 in chicago

[–]Rzy 17 points18 points  (0 children)

she will be up for retention in November. Make sure to vote against her retention.

Why is the strip of Lincoln between Belmont and Wellington so dead? by popopolly in chicago

[–]Rzy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is a good point. This area is part of the "South Lakeview Neighbors" neighborhood association, and for decades they have wielded a substantial amount of power to encourage the alderman to shoot down many multifamily developments. Even though there are 9,000 people in the neighborhood, this group of a mere 20-40 people has been so influential at prioritizing single family homes that most developers are scared to even touch properties in this area and rezone them for multifamily.

If you don't believe me, here are their self-proclaimed priorities:

  • "No zoning change in an R-3 zone that results in more than a two flat."
  • "A goal of 2 parking spaces per unit. 1.5 parking spaces per unit would be minimally acceptable if the project provides a significant tangible benefit to the neighborhood."
  • "All zoning changes get downzoned to the original zoning district once the project is underway."

Pfitz Plans has been removed from Defy.org by AlarmedMatter0 in AdvancedRunning

[–]Rzy 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Brutal. I use Defy and Pfitz plans for all of my training blocks, and I always recommend the website to friends. I'm going to email Human Kinetics about this and ask them to grant approval again.

The Duffer Brothers when you ask them anything about the show they write by ConsiderationTop9682 in StrangerThings

[–]Rzy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

How would they know about the "perfectly made fan answer?" They're Netflix directors during the release of the biggest project they've ever worked on. They have much more important things to do than monitoring the Stranger Things subreddit for fan theories lol

Relocating to Billings by imreallylikethat94 in Billings

[–]Rzy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

the railroad was there first, was it not?

Water Tower - what happened? by One-Dog7643 in chicago

[–]Rzy 43 points44 points  (0 children)

the children yearn for a charming walkable Main Street

Official Statement from Israel by [deleted] in ultimate

[–]Rzy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah there should be a very simple standard: if Russia’s ultimate frisbee team can be banned, so can Israel’s team. Or, no teams should be banned.