With little vacant land remaining, Los Angeles has likely seen the last of any new large tracts of single family homes. As the City continues to grow, new and creative approaches to building new homes and apartments are needed to increase the number of affordable places to live without negatively affecting the quality of life for everyone.
These strategies include:
Using compact design to use land more efficiently. Designing new housing at higher densities allows us to build more homes and apartments using the limited supply of developable land while protecting single family neighborhoods. Dense, compact development spreads out the cost of land among more homes and helps to create more affordable places to live.
Examples of more compact development include:
- Walkup and courtyard apartments
- Mid-rise apartments
- Town homes and row houses
- Single family homes on small lots
- High-rise apartments
» See what different housing types and densities look like
» Learn some of the myths and facts about density
Designing new buildings to fit in. New buildings can be designed so that the scenic, aesthetic, historic, and environmental resources of a community are preserved. Called "context sensitive design," this approach minimizes the impact of new development on a community. Examples include incorporating the architectural style of a community into the design of a new building — or using local building materials to better integrate the building into the surrounding environment.
Mixed-use development. Mixed-use development combines housing with shops, offices, community facilities, etc. This works by stacking homes, apartments or offices above neighborhood serving retail stores — or simply by putting commercial and residential buildings in close proximity.
The benefits of mixed-use include:
- Vibrant street life. Activity along the street adds to the liveliness and interest of an area — and contributes to an ambiance of energy and safety.
- Less traffic. With jobs and stores close to homes and apartments, people need to use their car less, helping to reduce traffic.
- More physical activity. Walking instead of driving increases people's level of daily physical activity.
- Walkable, accessible neighborhoods. Having merchants nearby that offer routine goods and services makes neighborhoods better for children, seniors, and others who choose not to drive.
"Green" building and sustainable design. By design energy-efficient buildings and using environmentally friendly building materials and construction practices, we can create more homes and apartments without placing additional impacts on the environment.
Examples of green building include:
- Energy conservation
- Water Conservation
- Storm water runoff
- Adaptive Reuse
- Recycled construction waste
