Angelo Korsanos

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!

An interesting overview of the issues surrounding permissibility of the NSW Pattern Book solutions. Suggests that Torrens Title is permissible as complying development.

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Protecting the environment has always made economic sense. Now we have proof | Nicki Hutley The failures of our environmental protection laws mean we are not only failing nature but also undermining productivity – at a huge cost

The prominent economist Ken Henry spelling out the need to work within our environmental and biological constraints, and how that it the productive choice.

Given how little regard we take for such matters it may take another 25 years for that argument to stick! 🤯

Apart from the social upheaval and likely marginalization of any social housing component, the spilt carbon through demolition ought to be a further consideration!

I suspect given location, that there are similar issues at play here (land value and demographics).

The state of the buildings is being used to justify the ‘replacement’, but as you suggest - through chronic neglect.

Terrible state of affairs all round.

I know that feeling!

‘Nothing to see here’. ‘Informed policy’ they say; courtesy of lobbyists and their cronies skewing the decision making processes and policy of government to grease their own wheels.

That’s quite a catalogue!

Great resource.

Struggling to find the refurbished ones!

Will check it out. Thanks!

UK miles ahead of Australia - albeit not good enough there too!

‘I come to save the system’: why Melbourne tower residents fear for the future of public housing Victorian government plan to redevelop 44 estates described as ‘foolish’ and ‘insulting’ by locals at first hearing of parliamentary inquiry

This seems unlikely to end well; Replacing (demolishing and rebuilding) social housing already pitifully at small proportions <3% with a mix of community and social housing is a step in the wrong direction. But regrettably governments in Australia have lost the nerve, will and skill to deliver.

Chris Minns to reveal NSW plans to bolster housing construction ‘You can’t build new homes without roads, parks and schools to match, and the community shouldn’t have to wait for them,’ premier says

Developers can choose whether to pay a $12k levy (that already applies) or build ‘roads, parks & schools’ as ‘in-kind’ payment.

What could go wrong?!

Leading players urge Labor to tighten rules for cashed-up political lobbyists Stronger powers and bigger penalties needed to ‘investigate and punish’ unregistered lobbyists and those who break government’s code of conduct, critics say

Tightening up policy surrounding of the influence of lobbyists to curtail the big and currently undisclosed business interests would certainly help make policy more equitable and sustainable.

Australia’s bowel cancer rates are world’s highest for under-50s. Scientists wonder if the gut microbiome is to blame Incidence of bowel cancer is up to three times higher among Australians born in the 1990s compared with the 1950s cohort

Eat your vege’s people!

Well, not quite that simple, but disappointing how tenuous the connections to diet are stated given broader evidence.

Welcome @michaellewarne.bsky.social !

Just noticed the follow!

The previous generation (pre AI) were taught to assess and think critically about the information they source. The one before that rote taught from predetermined text books.

The current one wants the work done for us without filters for accuracy. We’re training a generation of laggards and idiots.

Add it up!
In NSW apartment areas are measured net within bounding walls
…whereas
Most other States use, even for planning, the Property Cl method that includes external walls & 1/2 party walls in calculations.
See plans;
98.7m2 vs 107.8m2
It’s a ripoff!
You can’t live in a wall!
So why count it?

The plan is often under-appreciated in the fetish of features that accompanies contemporary explanations of Architecture.

And, as pointed out, so often absent from the explanation of good projects.

Labor wants to fix Australia’s housing issues – but there’s little hope for those not already on the ladder Without genuine reform, experts predict house prices to ‘climb by 6-10% in 2025’ and the gap between homeowners and those locked out of market to widen

The complexities and contradictions of [anticipated] lower interest rates exacerbating problems of housing affordability. Only silver lining is that it might induce greater supply by enabling developers to profit from higher prices. And so goes the merry go round!

There’s been discussion about whether a US-influenced ‘abundance’ agenda on infrastructure + housing applies to Australia, where our cities seem much less sclerotic. But in part, this is a sign of how often we exempt projects from ‘normal’ legal review and planning processes. 🧵

I was hoping that there would be greater (or at least as many) Greens in the new parliament to fight this misconception that the private sector can address the housing shortage.

This post from last year seems ever more pertinent. But alas, little traction to address supply or affordability.