Diverse standards for residential buildings

Status quo: In a lot of apartment or condo buildings, neighbors are pitted against neighbors. People who make noise are pitted against people who hate noise. People who can't stand cockroaches are pitted against people who don't mind them. This culture war need not happen. There is a better way.

Solution: Different buildings should have different standards

Noise

There should be...

• Some "loud" buildings - suitable for musicians, artists, and party people who like to make noise. Also suitable for "night owl" people who need to go about their daily activities(...)( i.e. cooking & cleaning which may make noise ) at a time when most people are asleep. (...)( For housing units in which all the windows face a courtyard, it might even be possible to allow noise during hours the city would otherwise restrict, if the noise doesn't reach other buildings. ) (...)( Another thing to add to the "musician-friendly building" concept: There could even be a soundproofed common room which could serve as a shared recording studio. )
• Some "normal noise level" buildings, with rules that are about the same as the status quo.
• Some "quiet" buildings, for people who don't like noise and don't make noise.

The ratio of these types of buildings should reflect people's needs.

Messes

There should be...

• Some "messy people friendly" buildings, where tenants won't be harassed for having an unclean place. 💬 discussion TODO: ~ Talk about why this is needed for inclusivity of neurodiverse people such as those with ADHD. ~ Talk about bugs, and why some buildings should have a policy "we will NOT send an exterminator for cockroaches and ants, but we WILL send an exterminator for bedbugs" Messy people would choose to live there, avoiding any negative impact on people who live more cleanly in other buildings.
• Some "normal" buildings, with rules that are about the same as the status quo.
• Some "clean" buildings, with stricter standards (maybe the same as the status quo of some more expensive condos).

The ratio of these types of buildings should reflect people's needs.

Smells

There should be...

• Some buildings suitable for people who have smelly pets, people who like cooking strong-smelling foods, and maybe even for people who like smoking indoors.
• Other buildings, with stricter rules.

Note that not all types of rules have to go together. For example there could be a building that allows pets but doesn't allow smoking indoors. The ratio of these types of buildings should reflect people's needs. There should be as many pet-friendly buildings as there are pets. 💬 discussion Maybe this section should be split into 3 things: Pets, smoking, and cooking smells.

Implementation

Devise a code

Devise a notation system and stickers/emblems to add to housing listings that indicate the type of standard. For example "messy people friendly" vs "clean home" etc. Start the discussion

Create incentives

This section has not been filled in yet. 💬 discussion Mention somewhere that the transition may be slow because people aren't just going to all move to new homes en masse. Best to start with new buildings (which will probably take on a quiet+clean standard) and high-turnover buildings (such as student housing, where some buildings (not all) should take on a noisy+messy standard). ~ Also mention that the noise/mess/smells axes could be orthogonal to some extent.

See also

• Let tenants decide what work needs to be done