Arpit Gupta

On days like this I have to concede New York City is a functioning communist government

A building grows in Manhattan

The first use of this meme?

Pretty solid Yap stone over here; the crypto of its day

Total fertility rate

You want sub 1 TFR? This is how you get it

A book on accounting for transit called “Mind the GAAP”

Connecticut is going to spend $1 billion on a moveable bridge to serve *one* boat that goes up and down the river.

The Army Corps of Engineers was inflexible on this issue despite the cost bloat. Should be a go to example for “marble cake federalism.”

By @zliscow.bsky.social interviewed by Ruiz

Museums seem to have a bit too much adjoined office space. This could just be more exhibits!

Absolutely, this is has been a beneficial consequence of all the remote work moves. SF is genuinely way cheaper now relative to the rest of the county

This is another place where the "sprawl YIMBY" vs "infill YIMBY" debates matter. More infill construction probably helps households tap into urban job markets, so maybe more stable incomes and marriages, but more suburban sprawl probably leads to more gambles on homeownership and kids

Funny because the Arc'teryx near me always has one of those giant inflatable rats due to some union dispute

Eminem's "Without Me" aged poorly in that rather than "nobody listens to techno;" everyone listens to EDM and no one lists to rap anymore

Great aura today in New York

NYU faculty housing has double stacked urban courtyard too

And here we have a double stacked building with urban courtyard design

Euripides, you-buy-a-these

In Chicago, alderman have been pitching proposals to ban the conversion of two and four unit properties to single family (in some cases, these are townhomes which were formerly single family and converted to multi unit).

Space is fungible.

A tree grows in Manhattan

I just think the benefits of single stair/PAB are so straightforward for reducing dead space overall that seems the more obvious angle to push, as opposed to these much more speculative suggestions on unit mixes

It’s just a general market downturn. Even single family prices and sales are down. I don’t really see the friction preventing unit combinations if the market favors it.

Hard to say which causes which — but the German practice of Lüften (or Querlüften for cross-ventilation) probably makes Point Access Blocks/single-stair more valuable for those apartments which straddle both sides.

Americans generally do AC and leave windows shut more often.

“Frankenstein” apartments based on combinations of multiple units have been a whole issue with RS units etc

It is done fairly frequently? My own unit was subdivided from a larger one pretty recently. The UES is losing units as rich people combine them. This again shows interior space is pretty fungible across uses and the bedroom mix responds to market conditions

All the (non ground floor) units do in the other big NYU faculty structure (Washington Square Village).

This one is a typical double loaded double stair; but many of the 1 BRs have been combined over the years to create multi bed units

Fair, I should have said 1 bd rather than just studio

Yes, I think it’s a pretty minor factor relative to what rents are for different types of units, which is determined by demand for those units and supply of competing stock.

I also think it doesn’t really matter for single stair being valuable in lowering dead space in buildings overall

Fine, I’m sorry for the misuse of terminology. That’s a scissor stair building which is mostly studios. Silver Tower is scissor stair and mostly mutibedroom. No necessary connection between the two.

I don’t really get why you’re trying to push this so much. Single stair has obvious benefits for floor space reductions. And we need many more studios; to accommodate the fastest growing segment of households.

Single stair would be a valuable reform of all it did is facilitate more studios