The single family home is the absolute least ecological dwelling type. Cities change. They grow. And while we’re at it, 1950s urban planing is some of the most atrocious thought ever to blight the urban landscape. Here are some of the things we can thank 50′s and 60′s urban planners for:

They built highways through poor neighborhoods using eminent domain to tear down peoples homes.

They evicted most of the non-white homeowners from the Fillmore, engaged in racist redlining that kept black people’s home values down.

Planned exclusively for the automobile and to the detriment of pedestrians – bridges built in NYC for instance, after the 40s, have no pedestrian paths.

Created neighborhoods with no pedestrian accessible services, stores, restaurants, etc.

Promised every family a castle in the form of a detached single family subdivision. It worked, and the social interaction promoted by denser living was destroyed.

The cheaply built triplexes you lament are built to higher earthquake standards than everything around them, with building codes that guarantee light and air to the occupants, without asbestos, with double glazed windows, and with more humans per acre, more people sharing resources and more people who know their neighbors due to proximity. What, exactly is the problem?

Instead of condemning everyone who’s putting in in-laws or clamoring for higher density as harmful speculators, why don’t we instead look at what this is saying about our city and region. There is demand and need for more density in centrally located urban regions like Oakland. This demand will only increase as transportation becomes more and more expensive. So in response to this, you’re saying that we should close our eyes, stop up our ears and demand no changes to a zoning code that you already admit has become hopelessly outdated and barely reflects the current makeup of the neighborhood? If you’re worried about parking and open space for a neighborhood, the way to address those issues isn’t to cling to useless zoning, but work towards a newer appropriate zoning that admits and recognizes current conditions and seeks to find solutions that match up with them. You could have the best neighborhood layout in the world on paper, but if it doesn’t make sense with the current urban climate you’ll end up with worse than bad.