I mean if they are cheap and ugly and are designed terribly then yeah, they do bring a neighborhood down. I have a shipping container building going up in mine (8 stories of stacked containers) and it looks like shit. And guess what, it’s getting a massive parking garage right next to it too, so it’s the worst of both.
They are everywhere! And let me tell you it sucks to live there. Nothing but broken promises and broken gates. Well that and a high cost rent. But img in my area there are dozens going up. No one is building starter homes, which is what I need ATM. I guess this is life now.
Starter homes only worked before because land was cheap. If you're in a place that's building condos, it's because land isn't affordable anymore. In fact, the entire story of US car dominance can basically be explained by "look we have basically infinite land"... Until they didn't.
Not american here, I was watching a video on youtube and the guy said the main purpose of HOAs is to try to increase the neighborhood property value, for me this is completely crazy, shouldn't it be about making the community better for people to live?
Nothing in America is about for making things better for people. It's crazy here.
I do wonder what those hideous parking towers could ever be used for. Not an architect so I don't know but could they ever be converted into anything useful? Like actually useful not car brain useful. If you added walls could they become homes or are they to badly designed to ever house anything living.
Gym, skate park, paintball / airsoft just off the top of my head. Anything that uses open spaces but height doesn't matter as much.
The "land value" argument is actually pretty dumb. At least over here, once zoning allows condos to be built, land value rises a lot, since condo developers can and do pay much more for a piece of land. Instead of housing a single family, the same plot can house dozens, so naturally, there is more money available to be made.
Also investors like condos more, because they can put their money into more and smaller flats, making it easier to sell just a portion.
