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TESTIMONY

Samuel Deutsch on transit-oriented development and housing supply lessons from Vancouver and Austin

13:09:58

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162 sec

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Samuel Deutsch expresses strong support for the City of Yes initiative, drawing comparisons with Vancouver's climate-focused transit-oriented development and Austin's successful housing supply increase. He argues that New York City's proposed 3-5 story buildings near transit should be a "no brainer" given Vancouver's more ambitious 20-story approvals, and highlights Austin's rent decreases due to increased housing supply.

  • Advocates for potentially more ambitious transit-oriented development in NYC, citing Vancouver's approval of 20-story buildings near mass transit to reduce carbon emissions
  • Points to Austin, Texas as an example of how loosening zoning restrictions and increasing housing supply can lead to rent decreases
  • Suggests that the City of Yes initiative could go further in the long term, but appreciates it as a step in the right direction for climate-friendly housing
  • New York City should look to other cities for inspiration in housing policy
  • Vancouver allows 20-story apartment buildings near transit stations to reduce carbon emissions
  • New York's proposal for 3-5 story buildings near transit should be a 'no-brainer'
  • Austin, Texas has built significantly more housing per capita than New York, resulting in decreasing rents
  • Loosening zoning restrictions in Austin has allowed supply to meet demand
  • The City of Yes proposal is supported but could potentially go further
  • Building more housing near transit promotes sustainable, low-carbon, car-free lifestyles
  • The proposal will lead to more climate-friendly housing in New York

[EXPERIMENTAL]

Which elements of City of Yes for Housing Opportunity were discussed in this testimony?

  • Transit-Oriented Development

The following are AI-extracted quotes and reasoning about which elements of the proposal were discussed in this testimony.

This is a quick, close approximation. Occasionally, the connection between a testimony's transcript and specific elements of City Planning's proposal is tenuous.

Read about this AI-generated analysis here.

Transit-Oriented Development

"There, climate change is a really important issue as it is here. And day as a result, proves to the extensive transferring into development policies because getting housing built near where trans exists. So people don't need to drive as much or don't even need to own cars is one of the most effective policies to reduce carbon emissions on the whole electricity level."

This quote directly relates to the concept of Transit-Oriented Development, which is a key element of the City of Yes For Housing Opportunity proposal. The speaker discusses the importance of building housing near transit to reduce car dependency and carbon emissions, which aligns with the goals of Transit-Oriented Development.

"And so there, even though Vancouver is a much smaller city than New York, they approved by right 20 story apartment buildings, right by their Sky train stations, which is their rail mass transit. So I think the fact that we're just looking at, you know, 3 to 5 stories here in New York, that should really be a no brainer."

This quote specifically mentions building apartment buildings near transit stations, which is a core principle of Transit-Oriented Development. The speaker is comparing Vancouver's approach to New York's proposed 3 to 5 story buildings near transit, indicating that he is aware of and discussing this element of the City of Yes proposal.

"And if anything, I would think for the long term, there should be more pressure to, like, even bigger than that and help more people live sustainable, low carbon, car free lifestyles by building more housing near transit."

This quote further emphasizes the speaker's support for Transit-Oriented Development, suggesting that even more housing should be built near transit to promote sustainable, car-free lifestyles. This directly relates to the Transit-Oriented Development element of the City of Yes For Housing Opportunity proposal.


About this analysis:

This analysis is done by AI that reasons whether or not a quote from the testimony discusses a particular element of the proposal.

All the prompts and data are open and available on Github.

You can search for testimonies that mentioned a specific element in the table on the main meeting page.

When an element is explicitly stated in the testimony (e.g. "Universal Affordability Preference" or "UAP"), the analysis is accurate.

But the connection between a quote from the testimony and an element of the proposal is sometimes implicit.

In these cases, the AI might eagerly label a testimony as discussing a proposal when the connection is tenuous, or it might omit it entirely.

↗ Why are there transcription and diarization errors?
Samuel Deutsch
13:09:58
Hello.
13:09:59
I hope you all can see and hear me alright.
13:10:03
Thank you.
Dan Garodnick
13:10:03
We can we can hear you.
13:10:06
Ah, there we go.
13:10:07
Now we can see.
Samuel Deutsch
13:10:07
Okay.
13:10:08
Perfect.
Dan Garodnick
13:10:08
Welcome.
Samuel Deutsch
13:10:09
Bye.
13:10:09
I wanna thank you all for taking the time.
13:10:11
It's an absurd hour.
13:10:12
It just goes to show how important this issue is.
13:10:15
I think my comment is just gonna be about the fact that as gray as New York City is is not the 1st city to have dealt with housing policy and examining how adjusting the housing policy of the city can make city better for its residents and for the planet.
13:10:31
So I wanna focus on 2 comparison cities that I think we should look to for inspiration.
13:10:37
The first is Vancouver.
13:10:39
There, climate change is a really important issue as it is here.
13:10:43
And day as a result, proves to the extensive transferring into development policies because getting housing built near where trans exists.
13:10:54
So people don't need to drive as much or don't even need to own cars is one of the most effective policies to reduce carbon emissions on the whole electricity level.
13:11:04
And so there, even though Vancouver is a much smaller city than New York, they approved by right 20 story apartment buildings, right by their Sky train stations, which is their rail mass transit.
13:11:18
So I think the fact that we're just looking at, you know, 3 to 5 stories here in New York, that should really be a no brainer.
13:11:24
And if anything, I would think for the long term, there should be more pressure to, like, even bigger than that and help more people live sustainable, low carbon, car free lifestyles by building more housing near transit.
13:11:37
So that's the first parallel.
13:11:39
The second parallel I think is Austin, Texas.
13:11:42
They've been building about ten times as much housing per capita as New York has.
13:11:46
And rents are plummeting.
13:11:48
I have friends there who are getting rent decreases, which is kind of unheard of here in New York.
13:11:53
Precisely because supply, they've loosened their zoning restrictions, they've allowed more housing to be built.
13:11:59
And as a result, supply has been able to really tons of housing have been built to meet the demand and, as a result, people who are living there and new people who are moving there and helping the economy everybody is finding more places to live and rents are going down and it's a win win.
13:12:16
So I'm strongly in support of the city of yes, I think if anything long term, there should be opportunities to go in further than the city of yes because this is really pretty basic no brainer stuff.
13:12:28
But I nonetheless really appreciate the work you all are doing, and I'm excited to hopefully see this pass the council and to see more climate friendly housing built in New York.
13:12:38
So thank you for your time.

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