Facing housing crisis, L.A. voters back duplexes in single-family neighborhoods

I bet this bill only sees a handful of duplexes made like the adu bill. The costs of construction is too high for a duplex to ever pencil out. Let people build five story brick apartments on their single family home lots like we did in the 1920s in LA, and we might actually start moving the needle significantly since the value proposition is so much better for something like that considering construction costs.

Sorely needed but not nearly enough. We must legalize more missing middle housing, and we must aggressively upzone to a minimum of 10-15 stories around metro stops/​high frequency transit. The amount of SFHs and little ass buildings along the Expo Line is just shameful!

Duplexes? Wow, people are deadset on doing the bare minimum. Build UP.

Duplexes are great and look great, most have private driveways so you can fit at least 3 cars and definitely lower environmental impact than an apartment unit with underground parking EDIT: Underground* parking haha

A majority of Los Angeles County voters back two new state laws designed to spur housing construction, including one that significantly changes traditional single-family zoning, a new poll finds.

The poll, by the Los Angeles Business Council Institute, done in cooperation with the Los Angeles Times, provides one of the first tests of public reaction to the new laws, which could bring about a dramatic change to California’s development landscape.

NIMBY groups are trying to overturn these laws next year at the ballot. Voters seem inclined to reject those efforts and support making it easier to build more housing.

iirc it also means multi-family housing is ok, not just duplex (so triplex or more as long as it's to code is fine). Either way, woo a step in the right direction!

We dramatically need to get the move on on this, as well as require imo harsher and more regular code inspections for older sites - or create a law or system that makes it not so stacked against the tenant to enforce this, and *fingers and toes crossed* more environmentally friendly for hot climates architecture (thinking of how many buildings in north africa are built on a sort of cross breeze system, so they can get as cold as a refrigerator on the hottest days if you need certain rooms to, without AC or anything electric).

LA just needs to take a cue from places like Japan. Build up, not out.

Thank god the voters are catching on to the crocodile tears of the NIMBY crowd

I saw a study at UCLA that showed that if you upzoned Wilshire alone to mostly moderate 'spanish style' density (6 stories), we could fit 1,000,000 more people in LA proper.

I'm a builder. A fellow residential general contractor I know, who has been in development in Los Angeles, discussed ADU's / Duplexes in general. He's built a house with a detached ADU which didn't pencil out when selling. The real issues facing development are setbacks/​lot coverage, cost of materials/​labor, and development fees. It's more attractive to build one single family home, which still has a strong market, then go through the process of doing two at a reduced return.

If an owner takes the plunge, and decided to subdivide their lot into two duplexes, and add an ADU on each to create a fourplex, then maybe they can live in one and it can be a good investment. I've built ADU's as well for people. Those that build them with me aren't looking to subside the rent. They know they're investing a lot of money, they're going to want the greatest return possible. At the end of the day it's a market issues, basic economics.

For starters, Los Angeles is expensive, period - it's not just the housing. Look at our gas prices compared to other parts of the country. People want to move here and are clearly willing to pay for it. The city actually enjoys the higher property taxes.

Land is expensive in Los Angeles, increasing the cost per square foot. It's a lot cheaper in Palmdale and Lancaster. There's plenty of housing out there, with a terrible commute.

I think those that work in Los Angeles proper and fall below a certain income level should get an automatic check towards their rent each month. Work at Starbucks, get a check towards rent. We need to find a way to make life more livable for those with a purpose of living in the city, especially if they work in LA. If you don't work in Los Angeles, why should you enjoy a subsidy, or even the rent control.

Duplexes won't solve anything. For one thing, the cost to build is not practical. Same issue with adu's- how many ADUs became short-term rentals, & how many owners of ADUs are renting to more than a single or couple only?

Only one solution: mixed-income housing units where a designated % of units must take section 8 for any development with more than a dozen units planned. And that's never going to pass.