• @[email protected]
    link
    fedilink
    237 months ago

    Given the housing crisis, it only makes sense to convert that real estate into residential units.

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      127 months ago

      Those two are not as related as they at first seem.

      For one, the plumbing required is different, as in literally offices don’t tend to have bathrooms with toilets and showers inside every office space. Also the lighting would be cut off for all the inside units. Communal bathrooms and no windows works for work but not as good for home.

      For another, a lot of the varying housing crises (there are multiple types) relate to affordability bc of being bought up by corporate interests. Another type relates to weird zoning laws of what types of homes are allowed to be built in certain areas - and for these at least, there’s nothing stopping good homes from being made except again profits.

      So it’s not impossible, but there are challenges. Mainly, how can already rich people find a way to make even moar monay? Oh yeah and something something the poors get whatever too.

        • @[email protected]
          link
          fedilink
          English
          67 months ago

          Yeah these buildings are made to have things routed under and over the floors. I keep hearing people saying plumbing is a giant problem, and it rings hollow to me, extra bathrooms are installed in homes all the time, literally just run the pipes, but seems no one wants to.

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      57 months ago

      Those residential units will be worthless too if all the offices close. Why live in the big city and pay huge rents if you work remote? Just move to a cheap area and buy a nice house.

      • @[email protected]
        link
        fedilink
        217 months ago

        Those huge rents exist because demand exceeds supply (amongst other reasons). People want to live in walkable neighborhoods and not suburbs where you have to drive everywhere to survive.

        • @[email protected]
          link
          fedilink
          17 months ago

          You can have walkable neighbourhoods without living downtown in a big city. Small villages are the original way to have walkable lifestyles. It’s how everyone lived centuries ago. There’s still plenty of those around, they just get overlooked.

          Suburbs exist mainly for the purpose of commuting into the city for work. If people stopped doing that then they could leave the suburbs.

          • @[email protected]
            link
            fedilink
            57 months ago

            It’s more like it’s often not a consideration, because the option doesn’t really exist. And when it does, you pay an obscene markup.

              • @[email protected]
                link
                fedilink
                17 months ago

                it’s that there’s not enough space to accommodate everyone so it’s not financially realistic to most people who want to.

                There’s plenty of space, it’s used incredibly poorly due to free parking, zoning regulations, and running highways through cities. The financial component is simply there aren’t enough of these spaces and they aren’t dense enough (and they could stand to include a lot more public and social housing, but people oppose it because they don’t want “those” people in their neighborhoods).

                That’s not to say that reforming suburbs to make them more livable wouldn’t be a part of the solution too.

      • Mossy Feathers (She/They)
        link
        fedilink
        77 months ago

        Sadly a lot of rural areas have little to no Internet connectivity in the US because ISPs have been taking money meant for rural Internet and pocketing the money. Additionally, the internet in smaller towns can be spotty. It’s part of the reason why starlink was so hyped up when it was first announced. It’s also part of the reason why people who are allowed to work from home sometimes find it difficult to find cheaper places to live (another one being rural bigotry, though if you’re cis, straight, white and capable of pretending to be Christian, that shouldn’t be much of an issue). The cheaper the area, the worse the internet usually is.

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      37 months ago

      Unfortunately only like 10% of them are viable for conversion. Office buildings and residential buildings have very different needs and it’s expensive as fuck to add all the extra shit needed for residences.