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Archive:000/Zoning: Difference between revisions
→Designated buildings - noise
(Created page with "Zoning means ''designating different areas for different purposes''. Parts of a city (or town) may be zoned as residential, commercial, or industrial. There are good reasons for doing this, but it can also be done wrong. ==Harmful zoning laws== Some suburbs have nothing but houses. People end up having to drive excessively just for basic things like groceries, school, work, or recreation. This makes life unnecessarily expensive, and is harmful to the en...") |
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===Designated buildings - noise=== | ===Designated buildings - noise=== | ||
====Problem==== | |||
In some [[housing]], two kinds of people get pitted against each other: | In some [[housing]], two kinds of people get pitted against each other: | ||
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The 1st group feels infringed upon by the 2nd. They need to socialize {{p|''Why not just go to bars and restaurants, you ask?''<br /> Firstly, those are expensive; not everyone can afford to. Secondly, restaurants have much higher human [[labor]] footprint than simple house parties. Third, bars are based around alcohol, and not everyone who likes to party likes to drink.}}, but have to constantly worry about being too loud. The 1st group also includes people who have atypical sleep cycles and need to use the kitchen during the night. | The 1st group feels infringed upon by the 2nd. They need to socialize {{p|''Why not just go to bars and restaurants, you ask?''<br /> Firstly, those are expensive; not everyone can afford to. Secondly, restaurants have much higher human [[labor]] footprint than simple house parties. Third, bars are based around alcohol, and not everyone who likes to party likes to drink.}}, but have to constantly worry about being too loud. The 1st group also includes people who have atypical sleep cycles and need to use the kitchen during the night. | ||
====Solution==== | |||
Designate some buildings as "unlimited noise, even at night". People who like to have loud house parties could move there. The rest of people would more easily have peace and quiet. There's a whole spectrum of possible noise policies for each building to have. | Designate some buildings as "unlimited noise, even at night". People who like to have loud house parties could move there. The rest of people would more easily have peace and quiet. There's a whole spectrum of possible noise policies for each building to have. | ||
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People don't move into slums for the house parties (generally). People move into slums because other housing is too expensive. Not every poor person likes loud parties. There needs to be affordable, liveable housing for both kinds of people, quiet and loud. | People don't move into slums for the house parties (generally). People move into slums because other housing is too expensive. Not every poor person likes loud parties. There needs to be affordable, liveable housing for both kinds of people, quiet and loud. | ||
====Implementation==== | |||
Probably wouldn't be zoning ''laws'' set by the city - but rather a ''policy'' set by whoever owns the building. | Probably wouldn't be zoning ''laws'' set by the city - but rather a ''policy'' set by whoever owns the building. | ||
Challenges: | Challenges: | ||
* People who have been living in the same place for years, wouldn't want their building to suddenly be declared "unlimited noise" or "zero noise" without their consent. The bigger the building, the harder it would be to get consensus from all residents. So it's best to | * People who have been living in the same place for years, wouldn't want their building to suddenly be declared "unlimited noise" or "zero noise" without their consent. The bigger the building, the harder it would be to get consensus from all residents. And for smaller buildings, the noise is more likely to affect people in ''other'' buildings, whose consent should be needed too. So perhaps it's best to with some easier cases: | ||
** Student residences: Different parts of the building could be designated as "high noise" and "low noise". Before the school year, students would specify their noise preference, and be placed accordingly. | ** Student residences: Different parts of the building could be designated as "high noise" and "low noise". Before the school year, students would specify their noise preference, and be placed accordingly. | ||
** New buildings: When a company builds dozens of | ** New buildings: When a company builds dozens of condo towers, it wouldn't be hard to designate 1 as "high noise" and 1 as "for quieter people". Economically, this would be a type of ''diversified investment''. And it's fairly low risk, because they could always remove the policy later if it doesn't work out. | ||
** Punk houses: Most are already full of people who like it loud. Officially removing noise restrictions would make life easier for everyone involved {{x|easier for 1. the residents; 2. the police who wouldn't have to knock on their door all the time; 3. the taxpayers, because policing costs money. CAVEAT: This is true as long as the punk house isn't the middle of an otherwise quiet neighborhood. It's generally a good idea for punk houses to be on the same block as other loud things.}}. | ** Punk houses: Most are already full of people who like it loud. Officially removing noise restrictions would make life easier for everyone involved {{x|easier for 1. the residents; 2. the police who wouldn't have to knock on their door all the time; 3. the taxpayers, because policing costs money. CAVEAT: This is true as long as the punk house isn't the middle of an otherwise quiet neighborhood. It's generally a good idea for punk houses to be on the same block as other loud things.}}. | ||
* We don't know exactly what percent of people want which noise policy. A quick guess: probably most people are comfortable with the existing city-wide noise policy, so only a small percent of buildings should be converted to "high noise" or "low noise". Someone would have to do some market research. | * We don't know exactly what percent of people want which noise policy. A quick guess: probably most people are comfortable with the existing city-wide noise policy, so only a small percent of buildings should be converted to "high noise" or "low noise". Someone would have to do some market research. | ||
* There would probably have to be some sort of neighborhood-wide comission to coordinate the noise policies of adjacent buildings that don't all have the same owner. Town hall meetings would be essential to getting input from the people living in the area. | |||
===Designated buildings - dirt and pests=== | ===Designated buildings - dirt and pests=== | ||