Yup, an incipient Soup Car Nazi; SeacoastOnline has an article dealing with the idea of changing their housing ordinances to allow micro-apartments. These are gaining traction in really high cost cities (San Fran, NYC) where lack of space, land use regulation and rent-subsidies have artificially put a distortion that has resulted in extremely high rents on those places on the open market. Sufficiently high that it has forced low income and “workforce” folks out of the local markets. So the idea of “micro apartments” was born – 250 to 350 square feet and at “reasonable prices”. In other words, a space equal to some folks’ walk-in closets. But Portsmouth (NH) thinks it needs this idea (reformatted, emphasis mine)?
PORTSMOUTH – City Councilor Eric Spear wants the city to look into putting micro-apartments for workforce housing at the Parrott Avenue parking lot. “Ever since I’ve been on the council we’ve been trying to get workforce housing for a number of years,” Spear said this week. “We’ve had good intentions but we haven’t had success.” Portsmouth residents or people who work in the downtown have been frustrated by the lack of success, Spear said, and by considering the idea of putting micro-apartments at the city-owned parking lot, officials can get the discussion started.
“Rather than wait interminably for a developer to come in sometimes you have to take leadership on an issue,” Spear said.
Er, maybe it hasn’t been done because even with tiny spaces, the economics couldn’t work? And when the private marketplace sees no profit, that is not an indication of a lack of “leadership” – just not the willingness to do charity. After all, private concerns don’t have access to an unending source of tax monies. And oft, when those in the public sector get annoyed at other peoples’ unwillingness, out comes the mocking.
For a town that does depend on tourism, however, I thought this a bit…odd:
“The location is very desirable because you have a waterfront location that’s walkable to everything in the downtown,” said Spear, who hopes people who end up living there might not even have cars.
I know that our self-congratulatory planners want to rack and stack us in, as if living spaces should be the equivalent of airline coach seats, but this goes for the full boat. No cars? Here’s hoping, as far as this Progressive politician is concerned.
For as we all know, nothing’s more Progressive than having people live like they did in the 1910s (and they do want their choo-choos back, too)!
