The Times had an article yesterday about plans to build affordable housing units on top of some of the city’s public libraries.
In Seattle:
These developments are public-private partnerships that typically include government subsidies as well as grants or loans from banks and other financing sources to build the apartments. Where the library is on city-owned land, the developer can avoid the land-acquisition costs and instead pay the city for development rights. The city can then use that money to pay for the new library.
We should do the same thing!
I can think of at least four libraries that are damn ugly, located on prime real estate.
Either tear down the libraries and replace them, with taller buildings, with the libraries on the first floor and residential, office, and/or retail throughout the rest, or just build on top of the existing structures (unrealistic). Plus, some have parking lots!
More: Stranger Than Fiction? Having People Live on Top of Branch Libraries – By Janny Scott, The New York Times
