Angelo Korsanos

“Australian households spend twice as much of income on mortgages than five years ago, report shows”.

The only answer towards flattening the cost of dwellings ownership - highlighted by the graph below - is increased housing diversity; alternatives to houses. www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

The sinister playbook of the sociopath!

Economics 101 from a cartoonist!

A brilliant one nonetheless.

And yet…. we repeatedly apply these strategies to making housing more affordable! 🤯

NOT REAL SOLUTIONS!

Interesting analogy to our current housing predicament.

So what should be the new (more sustainable) rules of the game?

Not a fan of the ADU as a wholesale densification strategy in general. There have been a couple of different tranches/policies here in Sydney. Yes it has some merit, but for such an inept density it results in the significant removal of tree canopy (notably straddling the rear of residential lots).

My petty gripe: not only am I losing my livelihood to AI – now it’s stealing my em dashes too The humble em dash is being used as a tell that something is written by a large language model. But it’s James Shackell’s favourite piece of punctuation, and he’s not ready to lose it

I stand with the em dash! Can’t live (or write) without it! Too valuable for connecting and elucidating ideas.

Must admit, that I didn’t think this building would eventuate. Promising to see greater use of timber structure as a meaningful strategy towards mitigating carbon emissions. But we’ve got a long way to go towards broad application and anything close to zero in construction.

Why I gave the world wide web away for free | Tim Berners-Lee My vision was based on sharing, not exploitation – and here’s why it’s still worth fighting for

An outline of a more democratic web from the person that gifted it to the world:

Testing the capacity of the NSW LMR and Pattern Book Initiatives — Redshift AA - Architecture + Advocacy The NSW Low to Mid-rise reforms (LMR) have been referred to as the most ambitious planning reforms in NSW in decades. But does the policy reflect the ambition? And, do the more recent and compliment...

7/6 over clocking the count!

How recent initiatives by NSW Planning (early to mid 2025) are unlikely to move the dial for much needed housing diversity in Sydney’s middle ring suburbs.

Just travelled to Milan. Impressive for a whole range of reasons but in relation to housing, the whole city seems to be made up of plans across time that are similar in cross section (no more than 2 rooms deep). I continue to be astonished that we can’t get close to this in Australia.

There has been a lot of speculation surrounding the effectiveness of the NSW Low to Mid-rise (LMR) planning reforms and NSW Housing Pattern Book.

These reforms have been touted as the ‘the most ambitious planning reform in decades’, but does the potential add up to the hype?

You be the judge!

‘Focus on the north shore and east’: Developers deserting western suburbs One developer used to build in Liverpool but its newest acquisitions are in Northbridge and Rose Bay.

Shock. Developers will build where they can maximise profits. The Minns plan will not, repeat not, deliver affordable housing. www.smh.com.au/national/nsw...

Demonstrating the need for more Public Housing in Australia’s most Liveable Cities. — Redshift AA - Architecture + Advocacy ‘What is wrong with the current approach to the supply of housing in Sydney and what can be done to make housing not just ‘more affordable’, but affordable?’ (Image of St Mary's public housing court...

Yes, I wonder who? 🤔

Extraordinary how myopic we are to the way the system works, and accordingly the means to fixing it.

‘Focus on the north shore and east’: Developers deserting western suburbs One developer used to build in Liverpool but its newest acquisitions are in Northbridge and Rose Bay.

Developers cant get their feasibility to stack up in parts if Sydney - if only there was a large entity who could exploit economies of scale, build innovative construction industries and deliver public housing to fill the gap…🤔

More than two-thirds of NSW public land suitable for housing sold to private developers Exclusive: Despite Labor policy to prioritise government land for public housing, Homes NSW has bought just three of 55 sites and expressed interest in further seven

Quick audit of public land & public housing in Sydney - some wins, but so many more possible, too many opportunities lost
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

This does not mean there are not still bad housing policy ideas out there that should be challenged. But getting better housing policy is not as simple as overturning a particular ‘dominant view’ - if anything, it’s more about educating and compromising.

floor plan of coop with diverse unit size, facilitated by single stair buildings

unit mix of the kalkbreite coop

unit diversity of the kalkbreite initiative cooperative in zuerich sure is wildly different than anything in the US

97 homes - and vast majority are not studios or 1-bedrooms. family-sized homes... cluster apartments. abundant flex space. even a hotel

My understanding based on some informal tax advice was; in a retail context ‘yes’ full fees should be quoted, but in a B2B context; quote as ‘$ for service + GST’ is fine. Not sure where you might go to confirm that position. ATO website?

I think basically if the federal government doesn’t fund analyses of it the answer is “yeah nobody does their job.”

YIMBYs vs NIMBYs in the battle for your backyard The Yes In My Backyard movement is lobbying for denser cities and more housing in places people want to work and live and YIMBYs want these homes built yesterday. But the NIMBYs haven't given up yet.

It was great chatting to @ginarush.bsky.social for today’s ABC Long Read. Our little ragtag crew at @greaterbrisbane.org have been trying to spin a new story about how our city could work. More than Sydney and Melbourne, Brisbane’s been fixated on a suburban lifestyle that’s not sustainable anymore.

Planners here in Australia also fail to understand (or implement) this fundamental principle.

Height and smaller side setbacks gives you consolidated landscape.

Conversely;

Restrict height (for the same FSR) and you get fat dark buildings on lots where there is little or no space for landscape.

Shocking arrangement.

Buildings absolutely too deep.

Courtyard - better described here as a light well - of little benefit beyond a token window to some shockingly dark apartment with no outlook, beyond the opposite - most likely - living room window of another terrible apartment.

Sprawl or nothing: medium density advocates despair as Brisbane swings back to urban expansion Queensland has tightly restricted the construction of townhouses and apartments for decades, and that’s the way it seems set to stay

With interest rates easing it seems we (or at least Brisbane) are reverting to our usual ways; ‘Sprawl or nothing’ (except TOD). And (in the case of Brisbane) the state government has eased its control over local council (Nimbyism).

When will we learn?

This is bonkers. I moved to Vienna from the UK in January to a district that is entirely new-build. Within a 5 minute walk of my front door there are 4 supermarkets, a chemist, a doctor, 6 playgrounds, a park, a tram stop and at least 3 schools. Why is it so outlandish to expect the same in Britain?

@thenewcity.bsky.social you made it over!

Just need to start posting!

Australian employers view their older workforce with contempt. They need to understand 70s are the new 50s A survey by the Australian HR Institute and the Australian Human Rights Commission found that nearly one-quarter of employers classify over-50s as ‘old’

Ok… it’s seemingly official.

At 55 years of age, I am old!

🤯

I must admit that I too miss that engagement from both right and left and the diversity of people there at that time!

For me it’s about the discussion resulting from the ‘broadcast’ and not the broadcast itself. Have been looking for it here, but somehow seems lacking!

BTW, the reason I have cause to question the uptake of the NSW Pattern Book Solutions is because:

1. Few are based on the common underlying lot sizes of Middle Ring Sydney (without consolidation); and.l,

2. The single Manor House solution (4 dwellings as NCC Class 2) is unviable for infill.

The failure of the ‘Housing Diversity Code’ to deliver housing diversity This article explores the policy failure of the NSW ‘Low Rise Housing Diversity Code’ (implemented through State Environmental Planning Policy (Exempt and Complying Development Codes) 2008 (Codes S...

Yes. That is correct! You can read more about how that played out here:

(An article I wrote following our office’s initiative for a ‘Pattern Book’ in the period surrounding 2018-2021). Not one project built!

LMR areas I believe override the LEP, but I am not hopeful of seeing great uptake.

Interestingly, permissibility of the housing types is tied to permissibility in the underlying LEP. This presents a significant issue given that most councils extinguished permissibility of ‘Multi Dwelling Housing’ in R2 areas with the introduction of the NSW Low Rise Housing Diversity Code in 2018!