By its very nature, deconstruction is subtraction. We literally remove materials from a site and leave nothing behind in the case of full tear downs. The results of our subtractive work is positive though; it prevents waste, reduces emissions, and puts local materials back into circulation. However, the act of subtracting is too often not used to add value in our society. Challenging the status quo can come in many forms, and here we explore the power of subtraction.
The default American solution to our housing crisis seems to always be to “add”. Whether the argument is that building more will bring down the price of homes and rents, or that it will solve upcoming population needs, or that we’ll be able to create “affordable housing”, planners and politicians are always so certain adding “things” will solve our problems. But citizens need to push back sometimes with common sense solutions that sometimes require subtraction. And cheers to those who do - we see many of you at GreenLynx. “Less is more” is a common saying that most people have heard of, but few put into action. What if we looked under the welcome mat a little deeper and determined what we need to subtract from the housing equation instead.
Visualize driving on the backroads of Sonoma County, and in your mind you conjure up old redwood chicken barns, free roaming cows, and open fields. Take an actual drive and you will likely see our farmland being devoured by concrete foundation pads, concrete sidewalks and asphalt courts for large single family housing. The resulting emissions from this massive concrete usage seems counterintuitive to solving our climate issues. On the one hand it evokes some nostalgia for the American Dream. Then you see how densely packed they are and wonder things like “how will water drain from these new concrete jungles?”, or “why are we building on our precious farmland?”. With the 2022 drought so fresh in our memories, it’s hard not to think “how are we going to share our already dwindling water supply?”.
What if we visualized a different future, where we are happier by subtracting square footage, and reducing virgin materials and concrete, while simultaneously increasing community? A future where we regenerate our farmland, and intersperse it with workforce housing and ADU’s. And where we remodel a downtown bungalow within its existing footprint. This would create affordable solutions that minimize work drive times and keep locals from being pushed out of the area.
What if we build cooperative housing where seniors and families band together to build a community where they can age together with right-sized units and support systems that they own, instead of some investor-owned Corporation. And co-housing, where young people live together in larger structures with shared community space to help increase socialization, reducing loneliness and mental health issues. Intentional communities already exist here, and we at GreenLynx are lucky to meet many of the folks living in them and working on their creative buildings. It is happening, but they are too few and far between.
We must require our local governments not only to promote intentional communities, but to codify them, subtracting the barriers to make them happen faster than unplanned sprawl. For instance, the City of Sebastopol Housing Element mentions a workforce housing overlay near downtown and boosting cooperative housing with increased building heights and reduced parking requirements. But these rely on our current free market system to get the job done. What we really need are real incentives like:
- Loan assistance and guarantees
- RFP’s
- Expedited permitting and
- Funded outreach programs
specifically for housing cooperatives, cohousing, ADU’s and workforce housing. At the same time, we must subtract some of the barriers such as excessive permit and construction costs. What if we effectively removed the permitting process and had generic building and septic plans pre-approved by all of our jurisdictions that could be modified aesthetically? This would greatly reduce professional (architectural, engineering and construction) and permitting costs.
In order to envision the future, we need to think more about what we need to subtract from our government processes, our communities and our lifestyles. Adding more only makes things more complicated and convoluted, and we risk losing the original intent of our code, law, rights, and collective and individual needs in the first place. We also risk expending more carbon emissions by allowing the free market to be the force continually adding to our housing needs without addressing our root housing crisis causes.
So what can you do? Help identify the barriers to community led housing projects in your town and look for ways to engage with your City Council or the Board of Supervisors. Review your local housing element - what is missing, what is out of date, what does not benefit the community? Help our elected officials and agencies become more streamlined by identifying what needs to be subtracted.
To sum up this 3 part series on fire, insurance, housing, permitting and construction: deconstruction principles offer a daily dose of zen to our otherwise cluttered world; save what is usable, discard commingled trash. A lot of ideas are trash. Just because they are written, doesn’t mean they are valuable today. Let’s become intentional developers ourselves, pooling resources and action to create the community of our future.