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New bill would revive single-room occupancy apartments in NYC

19 points by geox

by spir

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Good to see more recognition that the housing shortage in the West is actually caused pretty much entirely by policies that made it illegal for the market to provide sufficient housing, and not landlord greed as a popular belief.

by CraigRo

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Challenge is that NYC regulates the operation of sros so much that you'd have to be insane to build them under the current rules.
Kind of a shame, as lots of people basically just want a room to sleep in and a place to sit

by Wowfunhappy

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I feel like there is a huge difference between a shared kitchen and a shared bathroom. I'm fine with the former, and I would personally take that if the price was right.
But the latter is gross.

by garciasn

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I’m interested to see what this does to rents overall. I assume these will not be as affordable as everyone would like/assume, at least not in the next few years, and will drive up rents in larger spaces.
But I’m glad we’re trying SOMETHING in order to combat the problems with affordability; let’s just hope we don’t even up reviving how the other half lives.

by nradov

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SROs can't work in cities with strong tenant protections. If some junky trashes the shared kitchen and bathroom then the landlord needs to be able to evict them immediately (like in a hotel). Good luck doing that in NYC.

by HardwareLust

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by add-sub-mul-div

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It might be beneficial and necessary given where we are, but if it becomes normalized we must all see it for what it is. More austerity ultimately (regardless of the immediate causes) stemming from the massive transfer wealth to the few.
Just like the generations-long shift of families needing two incomes instead of one. Like the growing share of renters vs. homeowners. Like the growing ratio of home prices to income.
You reading this may believe you're among the few because you've stayed ahead of it so far, but you're not.