Mo Zhu

Mo Zhu reposted

Michael Andersen

@andersem.bsky.social

@sjshancoxli.liberalcurrents.com

In other words: this should be a legal place to put a modern electric elevator

Stephen Jacob Smith@stephenjacobsmith.com

On Tue., Nov. 3, at 4 p.m. ET, I'm presenting my IBC proposal to a committee work group (one of many) to allow elevators to open into exits if dwelling units are also allowed to open directly into them. Essentially it would remove the "corridor penalty" for adding an elevator to a single-stair...

Mo Zhu reposted

Dr. Samantha Hancox-Li

@sjshancoxli.liberalcurrents.com

looked at in longer perspective, it's striking how much this resembles the premodern system of exclusion, rents, and personalist connections, which was--and this part's important--radically worse than the modern system of impersonal rules and general taxation

Max Dubler 🏳️‍🌈@maxdubler.com

Boston’s chief planner is a true believer in the San Francisco model, in which you make it impossible to profitably build apartments by-right so developers are forced into a politicized discretionary negotiation with the city, which relaxes the rules in exchange for below-market units.

Mo Zhu reposted

Dr. Samantha Hancox-Li

Replying to @sjshancoxli.liberalcurrents.com

one of the really useful takeaways from fukuyama's political order books is a clear conceptual understanding of what corruption *is* in its fundamental nature. and the answer... is patronage networks organized on personal connections! corruption is *inherent* in these discretionary systems!

This post is unavailable.

Already reposted this but I highly recommend looking through the linked presentation. Very accessible and educational!

Stephen Jacob Smith@stephenjacobsmith.com

...building up to four stories that isn't otherwise required to have a corridor. Presentation (docs.google.com/presentation...), formal proposal (docs.google.com/presentation...). If you are able to attend and speak in favor of it, it would help – the code insiders are pretty opposed to the concept.

Folks, this is part of getting European style dense single stair apartments!

Stephen Jacob Smith@stephenjacobsmith.com

Mo Zhu reposted

Fischer 🛠️🚇

@fischer.bsky.social

Replying to @stephenjacobsmith.com

schrodinger’s firefighter who is in a three way superposition between both stairs and the elevator while responding to a fire

- On Thurs Oct 29 @ 1pm ET/10am PT, - @willskud.bsky.social of CBNA will present a code change proposal ... - to the ICC's G13 "middle housing" committee's Fire working group. It will increase the allowable size of exterior windows on residential buildings, which is important for dense urban lots.

Does this reduce fire safety? No. Multiple jurisdictions have already made this change. Oklahoma and Chicago have already treat NFPA 13R sprinklers the same as NFPA 13 for these purposes. New York City is even looser.

So this is proposal is a win-win for maintaining fire safety while enabling comfortable urban living! Again, this meeting is on Thursday October 29 at 1pm ET/10am PT. I will be live tweeting and I will also share the link when the time gets nearer. Follow along to hear the committee's reaction!

You can see the impact this would have on dense urban living. I used to live on the west side of SF where there was a narrow ~7ft-wide alleyway between buildings that I used to get to my ground floor apartment. The entire side of my unit had no windows, leading to poor natural lighting.

And for those living in narrower alleyways of 3-5 ft, no windows are allowed at all without the full NFPA 13 sprinklers. This sprinkler would allow the 3-5ft wide alleyway dwellings to have 15% window openings and my 7ft wide alleyway to have 25%. Much more livable!

13 is the full shebang. 13R has stepped-down requirements and is required for MFH. 13D is even further stepped-down and is required for SFH. Estimates vary, but one developer said that 13R is about 10-15% cheaper than 13.

Under the IBC, missing middle housing already must have 13R. But in the allowable window % in that table above, only full NFPA 13 sprinklers give you the extra window allowance. This proposal will change the code so that NFPA 13R sprinklers also qualify for more windowage.

You'll notice that as the FSD gets larger, the % openings gets larger. Makes sense! Something else to notice is that whether you use fire-rated windows ("protected") or sprinklers, you get the same extra % allowance. In practice, fire-rated windows are rarely used due to cost.

Moreover, under the IBC, MFH must be sprinklered anyway. The key question and the crux of the proposal is "what kind of sprinkler?" There are 3 kinds, all named for their respective NFPA standard. NFPA 13, 13R and 13D.

One major (warranted) concern of the fire service is the risk of fires spreading horizontally out of windows onto neighboring houses. You can see in this image, a fire can travel a good vertical distance out of windows.

So the IBC limits the % of an exterior wall that has a window based on three factors: (1) the distance between the wall and an adjoining property/building ("fire separation distance") (2) whether the building is sprinklered and (3) whether the window is fire-rated. (IBC 705.10, see below)

LOL ok you're right. the stuff we think is missing middle housing is considered dense to them. Also, they use scare quotes around "middle housing."

Stephen Jacob Smith@stephenjacobsmith.com

lol you’re really sanewashing this one. It is, formally, “High Density Multifamily Housing (Middle Housing)”

Scare quotes or sarcasm quotes?

The ICC's missing middle study group, G13, is called "Middle Housing" because they deny that it's missing.

Mo Zhu reposted

Chris Elmendorf

@cselmendorf.bsky.social

CA cities that disapprove housing projects are in a world of hurt. New Court of Appeal decision sets up developer lawsuits for damages, at least where state law requires a ministerial permit (SB 35/423, AB 2011, SB 684, and more). Shi v. Palos Verdes. threadreaderapp.com/thread/21141...

theonion.com/conservative...

theonion.comConservative Man Proudly Frightened Of EverythingFLOWER MOUND, TX—Condemning the “woke left” for what he called the “modern evisceration of masculinity,” local conservative man Hank Daniels confirmed Monday that he was never going to stop being prou...

Stephen Jacob Smith@stephenjacobsmith.com

He says adopting the international standard would be like speaking another language “and we don’t know what that language is yet but we’re gonna operate that way soon,” which he calls “very scary.” Well sure, if you purposefully maintain ignorance, you’ll be ignorant.

theonion.com/conservative...

Stephen Jacob Smith@stephenjacobsmith.com

6:15: Somebody says he travels a lot in Europe and finds elevators substandard, wonders if you might asphyxiate if you get stuck in a cab on a hot day because they don’t have ventilation and we do. I have a feeling there’s going to be a lot of dramatic assertions like this that kinda beggar belief.

youtube.comConservative Man Proudly Frightened Of Everything | Onion Now: FocusYouTube video by The Onion

Even better. www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfvt...

Explored partnership between urban parks people and the fire service.

*underexplored ugh so bad a proofreading.

*at

The government was doing good work on scientifically informed, well-managed building codes! Let’s finish the job. 💪

John Lansing@pipedreaming.bsky.social

There have been some good advances from IAPMO in recent years as well as the ICC 815 effort to revisit the fundamentals of some sections of the model codes, but US plumbing codes are still running on the fumes of outdated and incomplete mid-century work from the National Bureau of Standards

giftarticle.ft.comEurope’s largest landlord exposed to €8bn hit from Berlin apartment plansVonovia vulnerable to compulsory purchase of 120,000 flats under proposals from winners of state election

The euros are so ngmi.

Stephen Jacob Smith@stephenjacobsmith.com

“Europe’s largest residential landlord Vonovia stands to lose more than €8bn from nationalisation plans in Berlin, as the prospective governing parties…discuss the socialisation of more than 140,000 apartments…The proposal, which foresees compensation far below market values…”

Mo Zhu reposted

Matt Hutchins AIA

@matthutchins.bsky.social

Local architect/historic board member perfectly articulates the raison d’etre of historic preservation boards: “What I've heard is that this has been scaled and designed to work with economics and making finances work. So as it stands, I have a lot of trouble supporting the project moving forward…”

Ryan Packer@typewriteralley.bsky.social

What if they just kept adding stories the longer it takes to get this approved? www.theurbanist.org/downtown-hig...

theurbanist.orgDowntown Highrise Project Still Under Fire as Design Gets Revised TallerA retrofit to build a new mass-timber addition above the Doyle Building at 2nd Avenue and Pine Street has added six floors since the Seattle Landmarks Board saw it last year. That change is only likel...