Re:Rent the Backyard (YC S19) wants to build a studio apartm...
by wpietri on Thursday July 18, 2019 @08:11PM
(#20475182)
One of the core problems in San Francisco and environs is that there's little room to expand. (In earlier boom times there was a fair bit of land created via fill [1], but that's over now.) So basically, we have to increase density.
One way to do that is to tear down small places and build bigger ones. That's definitely happening, but it's fraught. One less complicated solution is what's know as the in-law, in that maybe it's the kind of place you'd build if you wanted space for your mother-in-law that wasn't in the main house. [2] I've seen a number of these in SF; a lot of lots are relatively long and narrow, so people built a house in front with a back yard behind. Later, they replace some of the back yard with a small apartment.
The Bay Area's the right place to start because in-laws (known officially as ADUs, have recently been made legal. [3] I don't expect this company to make a huge difference, but it definitely looks like a way for everybody involved to make a little money while expanding housing stock, so I'm all for it.
One way to do that is to tear down small places and build bigger ones. That's definitely happening, but it's fraught. One less complicated solution is what's know as the in-law, in that maybe it's the kind of place you'd build if you wanted space for your mother-in-law that wasn't in the main house. [2] I've seen a number of these in SF; a lot of lots are relatively long and narrow, so people built a house in front with a back yard behind. Later, they replace some of the back yard with a small apartment.
The Bay Area's the right place to start because in-laws (known officially as ADUs, have recently been made legal. [3] I don't expect this company to make a huge difference, but it definitely looks like a way for everybody involved to make a little money while expanding housing stock, so I'm all for it.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bay_area_fill.jpg
[2] https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/02/little-...
[3] http://www.hcd.ca.gov/policy-research/AccessoryDwellingUnits...