Vinit Mukhija - Remaking the American Dream: The Informal and Formal Transformation of Single-Family Housing Cities

Urban and Industrial Environments

Series editor: Robert Gottlieb, Henry R. Luce Professor of Urban and Environmental Policy, Occidental College

For a complete list of books published in this series, please see the .

REMAKING THE AMERICAN DREAM

THE INFORMAL AND FORMAL TRANSFORMATION OF SINGLE-FAMILY HOUSING CITIES

VINIT MUKHIJA

The MIT Press

Cambridge, Massachusetts

London, England

2022 Massachusetts Institute of Technology

This work is subject to a Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-ND license.

Subject to such license, all rights are reserved.

The MIT Press would like to thank the anonymous peer reviewers who provided comments on drafts of this book. The generous work of academic experts is essential for establishing the authority and quality of our publications. We acknowledge with gratitude the contributions of these otherwise uncredited readers.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Mukhija, Vinit, 1967 author.

Title: Remaking the American dream : the informal and formal transformation of single-family housing cities / Vinit Mukhija.

Description: Cambridge, Massachusetts : The MIT Press, [2022] | Series: Urban and industrial environments | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2022000715 (print) | LCCN 2022000716 (ebook) | ISBN 9780262544764 (paperback) | ISBN 9780262372404 (epub) | ISBN 9780262372411 (pdf)

Subjects: LCSH: UrbanizationUnited States. | Housing, Single family United States. | American Dream.

Classification: LCC HT123 .M74 2022 (print) | LCC HT123 (ebook) | DDC 307.760973dc23/eng/20220307

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022000715

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022000716

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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

An informal second unit close to the UCLA campus. Photo credit: Student #2 and Student #3.

A new detached and unapproved backyard unit in the San Francisco Bay Area. Photo credit: Author.

A formally approved second unit in Santa Cruz. Photo credit: Author.

New laneway apartments on single-family-zoned lots in Vancouver. Photo credit: Author.

A lower-level secondary suite in Vancouver. Photo credit: Author.

My research sites. Graphic: Jae-Hyeon Park.

Relationship between building tenure and type. Source: 2013 American Housing Survey (US Census Bureau 2013b). Graphic: Jae-Hyeon Park.

Relationship between US single-family unit (SFU) size and household size. Sources: US Census Bureau 2021a, 2021c. Graphic: Jae-Hyeon Park.

Leading urban areas with one-person households. Source: 2014 American Community Survey data (US Census Bureau 2014); based on an illustration by Klinenberg 2012a. Graphic: Jae-Hyeon Park.

Proposed population distributions in Los Angeless Centers Concept. Source: Los Angeles Department of City Planning 1967, 33.

A sectional perspective showing details of a proposed center, including a transit station, in Los Angeless Centers Concept. Source: Los Angeles Department of City Planning 1970, 32.

Vignettes of single-family residential areas in the Concepts for Los Angeles and the Centers Concept. Sources: Los Angeles Department of City Planning 1967, 61; 1970, 21.

New construction permits by housing type, California and Los Angeles County, 19952015. Source: US Census Bureau 2021b. Graphic: Jae-Hyeon Park.

Median share of household income spent by income quartile on housing in California. Source: 2013 American Community Survey data in California Legislative Analysts Office 2015. Graphic: Jae-Hyeon Park.

Notices announcing the city of Los Angeless ADU workshops in 2009. Source: Los Angeles Department of City Planning 2009.

LA Weeklys negative reaction to the citys ADU Workshops in an article titled Invasion of the Granny Flat. Source: S. Morris 2009.

Word cloud of clues of informal second units in real estate listings. Graphic: Erin Coleman.

The seven APCs of the city of Los Angeles. Graphic: Erin Coleman.

Schematic drawings of the most typical configurations of second units on single-family lots. Graphic: Jae-Hyeon Park.

A trailer parked in the front lawn of a house screened from the street by hedges. Photo credit: Author.

A converted garage in Los Angeles with the garage door intact and used to access a shallow storage space. The unit behind the storage has jerry-rigged electric wiring. Photo credit: Daniela Simunovic.

Schematic drawing showing modifications to a single-family house to create a front plaza and a back courtyard between the main home and the second unit. Graphic: Jae-Hyeon Park.

A backyard cottage in Venice, Los Angeles. Photo credit: Mark Simpson.

A taller-than-permitted fence, which led to a neighbors complaint. Photo credit: Author.

The outside and inside of an informal second unit in Central Los Angeles. Photo credit: Ned Brown.

A makeshift kitchen in an informal second unit in Los Angeles. Photo credit: Carlos Hernandez.

Examples of precarious informal housing. Photo credit: Jonathan Pacheco Bell.

The five supervisorial districts of Los Angeles County. Graphic: Jae-Hyeon Park.

A truck advertising service for obtaining permits for informal garage conversions. Photo credit: Elsa Rodriguez.

A flyer announcing the second unit or Backyard Home workshop in Pacoima. Source: Pacoima Beautiful.

First-floor plan of the New Home Companys single-family house with a detached guest suite at Lambert Ranch, Irvine, California (not to scale). Source: Based on a plan by the New Home Company. Graphic: Jae-Hyeon Park.

First-floor plan of the New Home Companys single-family house with an attached private suite at Lambert Ranch, Irvine, California (not to scale). Source: Based on a plan by the New Home Company. Graphic: Jae-Hyeon Park.

Schematic plan of the New Home Companys Compound Home at Lambert Ranch, Irvine, California (not to scale). Source: Based on a plan by the New Home Company. Graphic: Jae-Hyeon Park.

A second unit under construction in West Los Angeles. Photo credit: Matthew Hartzell.

Second units in the ADU home tour organized for the 2019 LA Design Festival (clockwise from top left: outside and inside views of Bunch Designs second unit in Highland Park; and inside and outside views of Paul and Yukis second unit in Echo Park). Photo credit: Author.

Screenshot of the website of United Dwelling, a second unit developer with a land-lease-based business model. Source: uniteddwelling.com.

City of Santa Cruzs design manuals, including the Accessory Dwelling Unit Manual (Source: City of Santa Cruz 2003a); the Garage Conversion Manual (Source: City of Santa Cruz 2006); and Prototype Plan Sets (Source: City of Santa Cruz 2003b).

Summary of the sample floor plans in city of Santa Cruzs Prototype Plan Sets. Source: City of Santa Cruz 2003b, 34.