Commission Impossible

Ci Challenge: Winchester Mystery House

Tom,

Apparently it's not much of a mystery. Good job, I think you tied the record at 27 minutes.

Lon

There is a time-honored practice used to great effect by many who want to live in a nicer neighborhood than they might otherwise be able to afford: splitting the rent (or the mortgage) with roommates.

No fancy zoning required. Ask any college student or other person of modest income.

isn't that Ted Kasinzki's trailer?

B-Ray,

That's true.

But I'm beginning to think we should extend the inclusionary zoning principle to other products. Perhaps we could enact policies that ensure there is a $2 pizza available at each pizza restaurant. A $5 Thai meal would also be nice. And why aren't there new cars on dealer's showrooms that I can purchase for $2,500.

It's funny (peculiar, not haha) when people want to control somebody's business practices, without offering to assume some of the financial risk. I understand the need for regulation on a societal level of housing and infrastructure. But how far is too far?

Building a small home doesn't cost that much less than building a large home. The materials cost is reduced but labor, appliances, doors, windows, fees, etc may not scale down as neatly. For example, the home I show in the photo above is 110 square feet and is estimated to cost $50,000. Add the land and it's quite a bit more. There is a minimum cost to build a home. The smaller the home is the more expensive it may be per square foot.

I'm not sure what inclusionary zoning people are considering around town, but mandates effecting the free market may not have the intended effect.

Lon

Anthony,

And the connection between my bumper sticker and terrorists is made.

Our vice mayor, Ms. Schwab, mentioned you on KPAY this morning as a member of the illustrious Sustainability Task Force. I'm beginning to feel unwanted, first they wouldn't let me chair yesterday's meeting, and then she fails to mention me as one of the upstanding citizen's involved.

I'm keepin' an eye on you Ann!

Lon

Lon,
You forgot to mention that Chapmantown is the home/host to the giant members only shopping club Costco. And the Mega Star eating, drinking and entertainment venue... Sierra Nevada Brewery.

So the local rich and the tourists pass through the hood daily and many stop to do business.

The city more than the county has by design created the current mix of people and uses in Chapmantown.

It wouldnt be a bad thing to look for a more balanced mix and end the abuse. Maybe not mansions
but certainly some better developments.

Mike

Mike,

It is also adjacent to an elementary school and one of our larger CARD parks. I think Community Park is the planned location of a splash park, which will draw lots of people to the area. There is a creek that runs through the neighborhood as well, with many lots purchased by the city to eventually create a linear park.

Chapmantown has all of the things a good neighborhood needs. Why is revitalization of that area not happening? Or is it, and I'm just out of the loop?

Lon

Lon,
I dont think I'm qualified to answer your question.

Chapmantown has been my home for 15 years. I raised two kids here. My wife grew up here. My inlaws have lived here 52 years.
The city has been the largest landowner and the largest landlord in Chapman for over 20 years.But much of it still remains in the county.
Community park and the elementry school are not adjacent to Chapman. They are in Chapman.The park was carved away from the unincorporated Chapman as was countless city low income projects.
20th steet was designed to get you through the neighborhood as fast as you can. the result has been
a couple of dead kids walking to that school.
On the other side of Chapman along 9th street you can not stop the traffic to cross the street. No cross walks no lights...lots of pedestrians manuvering to cross. If you cross at Linden street it would be 1/2 mile to the crosswalk and back.
So the extent of city planning for Chapman has been to slice and dice the neighborhood for the sales tax revenue and to meet whatever state and city quota that came down for low income housing or social program. But never to do the planning to make it all work together.
The city manager has stated he doesn't want to annex the bulk of Chapman because of the burden on the city. So we continue to be divided. Never to be considered as a whole.
If Ed lived in our neighborhood we would have 7 million or so to help work through a few issues.

Mike

Mike,

That's a poor way to run a city.

Lon

Lon,

You have come out to state that you don't favor Inclusionary Zoning (I am no fan either. Intent is noble but the implementation is oversimplified). In fact, you consider it "social engineering" by our elected officials or whoever may advocate such a position. Don't get me wrong, I am not trying to be sarcastic or incriminating...if you could hear my voice through the written medium ;).

Here are some genuine questions to ponder:
First, do you recongnize that "affordability" in housing choice is a real issue within our community and region? If so, what do you advocate or entertain as a step towards greater "affordability" in housing choices? How can we as a community find ways to encourage both public and private development towards a wider range of choices?

Footnote: given that we are also making headway in proper maintenance of the our existing infrastructure at the same time.

Anyways, just some late evening thoughts since we are so very good at identifying what we don't like.

David,

First, thanks for posting. Is housing affordability an issue? Yes. But tied into that issue are things like the level of taxation we suffer in California and the availability of good paying jobs for skilled people in our region.

Do I think it is the government's job to ensure housing is affordable? No. When I think of that I see the giant slum public housing buildings that had to be torn down and were the catalyst for redevelopment agencies. And when was the last time the government excelled at doing something affordably?

Supply and demand will always work in a free market to make things more or less affordable. In fact we're seeing a flattening and reductions in home pricing as the market becomes saturated with homes on sale. Somebody told me there are 500 homes up for sale in Chico, where just a few years ago 50 we're on the market. I think we'll see some over extended builders hit the rocks as well.

If people were looking for the kinds of homes being labled as "affordable" by fans of inclusionary zoning then there would be no need to mandate them. The market would already exist. You can "educate" the market to recognize that different options(smaller) in housing might be valuable . New Urban Builders seems to be doing this with their live/work dwellings in Westside Green. I like the designs, but I'm not convinced they'll sell as well as more traditional spaces. See link below for live/work models.

http://newurbanbuilders.com/westsidegreen/homes/

My problem with inclusionary zoning is that it pretends to sell the suburban dream to the poor. All it really does, in theory, is place a token poor family somwhere so they can learn to be better people. Who's the elitist that came up with that? In reality, in Chico, the affordable home in a nice neighborhood probably gets purchased by some guy in San Jose so his kid can go to school in Chico and not pay rent.

The smart thing to do, in my opinion, is to shelve attempts at micromanaging our new neighborhoods. Let the private property owners who are risking their own money figure out what they can build and sell. Our older neighborhoods should be magnets for young couples and young professionals. A reasonable amount of attention from our local government could help make that happen.

Lon

Lon,

Good points all around...and I am glad it the live-works are in some small way appealing to you(I work with John Anderson and had a hand in designing those). Affordability is definitely influenced by many other factors than just housing prices. Another is the cost of transportation...especially acute for those who are in a financial precarious state. A good overview is the article "A Heavy Load: The combined Housing and Transportation Burdens on Working Families" (http://www.nhc.org/index/chp-research-publications).

In terms of encouraging activity within our older neighborhoods, assistance in the form of down payment help for prospective buyers and some regulatory relief for reinvestment to be feasible rather than simply a "labor of love" as yours truly is recognizing.

David,

First, do you recongnize that "affordability" in housing choice is a real issue within our community and region? If so, what do you advocate or entertain as a step towards greater "affordability" in housing choices?

This is simple. You want more affordable housing, you increase supply. In practical terms that means the city approves more development plans with few restrictions and in a timely fashion. It rezones land currently not available for housing. It lets builders build houses.

Notwithstanding the host of issues that come with unrestricted development, this would nonetheless lower the price of housing in Chico.

Inclusionary zoning, housing subsidies, rent control, other affordability measures: these all increase housing affordability for a select few at the expense of all other housing-seekers. They do nothing to lower the mean affordability of housing. Builders build less homes and/or raise prices on their "regular" inventory to compensate for the subsidized units. Either way, mean housing prices remain the same or increase.

David,

I apologize that I didn't recognize your name right off the bat. But now that we've discussed inclusionary zoning in detail I must ask that you endorse me for City Manager, or Cupcake gets it!

Lon

I must cave to your strongarmed tactics (practicing for a future career in local politics?) and relinquish my endorsement...for the sake of Cupcake.

Lon,

As a cat person, count me in on your run for City Manager. I take myself out of the race and throw my considerable political weight behind you. And Cupcake.