Ask a fire department to describe the ideal building and the answer will be zero stories. - ThreadSky

woolie.meowmeow.city • 71 days ago

Ask a fire department to describe the ideal building and the answer will be zero stories.

TIL that the NFPA's piece on point access blocks - Single Stair, Many Questions - was their top read article for the entire year.

Good! Codes are a large reason why our housing is so poor in quality and outcomes in the US.

www.nfpa.org/news-blogs-a...

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rabblerous.bsky.social•71 days ago

Ask a firefighter *why* they're against single stair, though, and be prepared for some really chilling stories.

woolie.meowmeow.city•71 days ago

It's already allowed by code to three stories.

rabblerous.bsky.social•71 days ago

1) not in every jurisdiction, and 2) ask a firefighter, seriously.

crzwdjk.bsky.social•71 days ago

Why does one have to have a firefighter friend to ask for anecdotes? Shouldn't they already be collecting this data systematically and publishing it for the public good?

stephenjacobsmith.com•71 days ago

Chicago is the only jurisdiction in the U.S. that does not allow single-stair apartment buildings up to three story, as far as I am aware. Which ones are you thinking of?

woolie.meowmeow.city•71 days ago

They are asking firefighters - the process of code amendments is the entire story linked above.

mrbtx.bsky.social•71 days ago

Don't ask them about their ideal street 🤐

crzwdjk.bsky.social•71 days ago

Even a zero story building (train platform) needs emergency exits though. And a suitable place (fenced in corral) to exit to.

emmceedee.bsky.social•71 days ago

A friend once described the ideal architectural practice as one where none of the designs are ever built. (More profit, no liability)

woolie.meowmeow.city•71 days ago

(A variation on the joke: to North American passenger railroad operators, the ideal passenger train is empty.)

macsquirelera.bsky.social•71 days ago

The ideal passenger train can have people on it as long as they don’t leave the museum

woolie.meowmeow.city•71 days ago

More seriously: 8 years ago, about a mile from where I sit, 36 people died in a fire in a warehouse that had been converted to makeshift housing, a conversion that was deliberately hidden from code enforcement. The high costs of housing production set the stage for informal, unpermitted production.

nextdoorsv.bsky.social•70 days ago

For those not familiar https://youtu.be/lYlIzMICJys?feature=shared

briansantacruz.bsky.social•70 days ago

You must be in Oakland

woolie.meowmeow.city•70 days ago

Yeah, East Oakland

woolie.meowmeow.city•71 days ago

No single policy, code, or land use decision is solely responsible for this situation, but today it costs over $1 million per unit to construct affordable housing in the Bay Area. Getting out of this mess requires reconsidering the entire process snout-to-tail and examining best practices elsewhere.

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