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Last week, the New York City Council voted to approve an amended version of the Adams Administration's 'City of Yes' housing vision for 80,000 new homes over the next 15 years. This will require a $5 billion public investment and comes with several key inclusionary zoning (including ADUs... View full entry
Following our previous look at an opening for a Compliance Director at AKAM, we are using this week’s edition of our Job Highlights series to explore an open role on Archinect Jobs for an architectural designer at Samara. The open role calls for an individual who will join... View full entry
The New York Times recently outlined some of the facts underpinning NYC’s housing crisis ahead of an upcoming final City Council vote on Mayor Eric Adams’ amended ‘City of Yes’ zoning overhaul plan for 80,000 new residential units on December 5th. Among the interesting takeaways... View full entry
New research published recently by the Brookings Institution has provided details of how local government in Los Angeles can galvanize a newfound abundance of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) through policy changes in order to combat an ongoing housing crisis currently affecting more than one... View full entry
San Francisco-based Cosmic has raised $1.5 million in funding for their micro-home product designs aimed at bringing “self-sustainable homes in California and beyond.” The company’s leading product, Cosmic ONE, is described as a “limited-edition high-quality micro-home” that... View full entry
California-based Samara has opened a factory in Mexicali, Mexico, to scale up manufacturing of their backyard ADU units. As we reported in late 2022, the startup is led by Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia alongside former Flex chief executive Mike McNamara. Image credit: Samara The 150,000-square-foot... View full entry
A new 3D printed ADU prototype made of concrete and other fire-resistant materials is under construction as part of a demonstration taking place this month in Walnut, California. The first-of-its-kind project was born of a collaboration between the fire departments of both Walnut and Los... View full entry
Students at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) recently collaborated with the state’s local AARP on a design-research project that was meant to demonstrate the potential of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) to lawmakers currently looking at alternatives to boost housing production and care... View full entry
The publication of a new research paper from the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University has provided policymakers with a useful nationwide assessment of different state-level policies regarding Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) in the United States. The paper centers on two markets... View full entry
The simplest takeaway from Seattle’s new report is that ADU production is up. The city granted permits to 988 units last year, and more than 650 were built — not all projects are built during the year they get permitted — outpacing the construction of single houses for the first time — The Seattle Times
As the Seattle Times reports, a change in regulations in 2019 led to the ADU boom locally. The city will now permit up to two ADU developments per lot, leading to a better-than-predicted 1,336 units being constructed against a total of 554 single-family homes being razed over a two-year period... View full entry
There is new housing help in Sacramento with the city now offering free architectural designs, permit-approved, to build on your property. You can download the plans straight from the city website. The aim is to increase housing across the city. — CBS Sacramento
The available architectural plans are for accessory dwelling units (ADUs). In this instance, they will come in three forms: studio, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom units. This move by Sacramento is meant to address the city’s housing crisis by providing property owners an incentive to build and... View full entry
A Los Angeles-based tiny house startup named Vika Living has unveiled a compact, semi-permanent housing unit that it says can be set up in an hour for just under $40,000. Called the Vika One, the fully prefabricated dwellings provide 144 square feet of living space, with a shared sleeping... View full entry
California-based housing startup Samara has unveiled further details of their factory-produced studio and one-bedroom units. The company, led by Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia and former Flex chief executive Mike McNamara, will now roll out a selection of customizable ADU units, collectively known... View full entry
A new solution to America’s multifaceted housing frustrations is blowing up in New York’s Hudson River Valley thanks to a startup called Automatic Construction. The company says it has invented a new technique named the Inflatable Flexible Factory Formwork (or IFFF), which, with the help of an... View full entry
It could look like another round of flight from the city. Or what we may be witnessing is a “second draft” of the American suburbs.
Many communities that were once white, exclusionary, and car-dependent are today diverse and evolving places, still distinct from the big city but just as distinct from their own “first draft” more than a half-century ago.
— Vox
The American suburbs are continuing to diversify and gain millennials and increased numbers of immigrants, two groups that have traditionally been confined to cities. More mixed-use and affordable developments are being delivered in suburban areas where single-family constructions have long... View full entry
