In this article written for a policy and development research journal, C.J. Gabbe details the debate about how land use regulations affect housing prices and how the author discusses specific approaches to overcome barriers to affordable housing. In this article, the author talks about a specific source of land use regulations and micro-apartments in San Francisco and how these trends have been used in other locations throughout the United States such as Boston, MA, New York City, Portland, OR, and Seattle, WA. There are many reasons for the use of micro-apartments or smaller housing projects such as more affordable living options and better land use for denser populations within cities. The author emphasized how micro-apartments are a positive with all the demographic shifts, economic changes and environmental trends that are happening every day.
The author defined micro-apartments as a smaller housing unit than the typical household or apartment size. The beneficial characteristics of micro-apartments vary, with better energy use, small unit size, smaller onsite parking available, developed in dense, transit-rich neighborhoods allowing for the environmentally friendly living as well. Micro-Apartments may also fit well with the changing fiscal environment in America (p. 226). By allowing proper permits for micro-apartments to be built, cities may help housing markets to operate more efficiently. In this article, Gabbe discusses many topics and approaches involving micro-apartments such as:
- Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Housing
- The Promise of Micro-Apartments
- A Case Study of Micro-Apartments in San Francisco
- Data and Methodology of that Case Study
- Overall Findings of Potential Regulatory Barriers, Density Limits, Design and Performance Standards and Cost Shifting Requirements (p. 224-231).
After his analysis, the author finds that the planning requirements in San Francisco and honestly any city within the United States privilege that of larger units by adding more costs in the development and planning process to the smaller units. This article discusses how local governments should carefully reconsider land use regulations that make small apartments more difficult to develop. While reviewing his case study of the micro-apartments in San Francisco, Gabbe’s biggest found potential barriers were: parking requirements, outdoor open-space requirements and indoor common-space requirements, unit-mix requirements and inclusionary zoning (p. 232).
Ultimately, Gabbe left me with a few questions such as: Will renters of micro-apartments be primarily one-or-two-person households? Will micro-apartments serve low-income or high-income clients? What other barriers might be holding micro-housing back?
