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Comment by mjevans | Hacker News Reader

A lack of urban planning.

    * Not enough family sized units in the city (drive down cost with supply).
    * Insufficient quality of life in building codes. (Noise, smell, clean air, green spaces)
    * Lack of vertical density;
      This is begging for Cave of Steel like results complete with indoor parks and atriums.

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There's not a lack of urban planning; there's an urban planning (and popular) consensus "lack of vertical density" == "quality of life."

That set of values is certainly not a consensus opinion.

It’s the set of values that controls nearly all land use policy in the United States. YIMBYism exists, and I am one, but I recognize that pro-skyscraper or even pro-mid-rise is a fringe position.

Density =/= high rise. Lots of 3-5-story building mix with townhouses creates the density you need with a human-size feel.

Cambridge (MA) is like this, but housing prices are still pretty unreasonable. You definitely need taller buildings.

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