The Radical Solution to Ireland's Housing Crisis

Transit Oriented Development (TOD) has been used with success for decades in countries such as Japan, France and Sweden. Could Ireland apply these lessons to add build tens of thousands of houses in years as opposed to decades?
This episode was inspired by Sean Keyes's great 2-part article on the subject:
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#housing #ireland #transit #housingcrisis #rent #dublin #kildare #wicklow #meath #architecture

[@keelan270]

As an Irish person, it’s refreshing to see high-quality KZbin video localized to Ireland. You & Real Engineering are doing this country proud. On the topic of TOD, I completely agree with it 🙌🙌

[@SatumainenOlento]

Please, read other comments. It has drawbacks. I think buiilding high density building is not ideal solution. But Holland has seem to been solved problems with it. Lets be smarted than other countries have been with TOD.

[@GdzieJestNemo]

Real Engineering is irish? til

[@TheHarlequin100]

15 Minute Cities - don't be fooled

[@TheTimdoyle]

Suck up to the NGO’s.

[@MCArt25]

too bad it's shit

[@adamkrsnak8882]

One of the problems is the emphasis on Dublin. Dublin is over 6 times bigger than the next largest city (in the Republic) being Cork. TOD is necessary but Ireland needs to diversify its home construction to Cork, Galway, Limerick, Wexford, and Waterford. One city can't solve all the problems.

[@Runboyrun89]

Housing is built where demand is. Currently a lot housing is getting built in Dublin. I’d expect demand to reset in the next couple of years because there is more demand elsewhere. Broadly the idea that we can reset demand is a nonsense.

[@charleslambert3368]

Is the problem that all the good jobs (esp for young professionals) are in Dublin?

[@richiehoyt8487]

​@@charleslambert3368 Probably! The (half~serious) joke used to be that 'The Culchies' were pushing up rents in Dublin. Then, of course, people pointed to immigration (and to be fair, they may have a point. Immigration might benefit the country's economy as a whole, but it doesn't necessarily imply xenophobia to point out that immigration at the local level causes increased competition for work and housing.) Now we have the problem that working class 'Dubs' cannot afford to live in the city in which they were brought up despite still working there, increasingly in the service sector. Like immigration, the attraction of 'Tech' industries (which brings jobs replacing those lost in stevedoring, heavy industry, etc... but not jobs for the same _people!_ ) and gentrification, might be good things for the most part; but when they reinforce each other, inevitably they bring pain for the people displaced as a result!

[@mattpotter8725]

@@richiehoyt8487 This is what has happened in London (and England in general) so whilst I think it's not a bad thing building more housing on brownfield sites in and around Dublin if you aren't careful these won't alleviate the problem, as it hasn't in London, where the new housing is expensive and it just fuels house price inflation putting money into the hands of developers. I also you don't get caught up in the whole blaming foreigners and immigrants, the right wing press and those that backed Brexit I think their sights set on pushing the same agenda in Ireland, and when people are suffering it's an easy sell to those thinking things can't get worse. Obviously Dublin has a housing crisis and that needs addressing but just like here in the UK you don't want to become too centralised and Ireland has many cities that could benefit and be better placed for growth, like Cork, Galway, Limerick, and Waterford. Obviously decentralising can't be done overnight so the current housing shortage needs to be addressed but I agree with the original comment about decentralisation.

[@daltongalloway]

Nah keep all those immigrants and liberals in Dublin please

[@mondoman712]

TOD isn't radical and I don't think using Tokyo as an example would convince many density sceptics. Switzerland has a lot of small but dense and walkable towns with rail connections that I think would be closely related to your proposals.

[@anoniaino]

imo, Switzerland is a great example for Ireland to aspire to. It’s similarly wealthy, not very big, is also neutral, has a lot of single track railways, and great public transport

[@cigh7445]

​​@@anoniainoIt's also a real democracy, where regional governments and local neighbourhood councils have a real say in what happens in their neighbourhoods and can't be ignored and overruled by a central government. And where the people can decide democratically what the government must put forth for referendum. (As opposed to a highly centralised representative democracy where the main and often only contribution from the citizen is voting for TDs once every four years. Ireland of course has Citizens Assemblies now, but the government decides what the agenda is for those and can ignore the outcome if they wish, rendering them quite flaccid.)

[@aidanq6137]

Trust me, TOD is a radical concept compared to anything else ever planned by the irish government

[@abelsuisse9671]

Urban development in Switzerland is also very restricted. The current law approved after a controversial referendum drafted by a group of people that are against further sprawl, heavily restricts the construction of new developments on the equivalent to the green fields mentioned in the video. Unlike Ireland, however, the federal structure of the country and the many existing economically successful small and middle sized cities spread across the country, allows for growth in those urban areas and also makes investments in rail connections a lot more attractive. Like Ireland, the country also has high population growth and it also hasn't chosen to develop by creating new urban centres around existing transport infrastructure, but by increasing density. A great example of this is Geneva, where new neighbourhoods have popped up recently. They are multi-story appartment buildings which are directly in front of vineyards, fields and forests, with no transition with low-rise housing, and those neighbours are planned from the start with appropriate public transport such as tram infrastructure.

[@WhatWillYouFind]

Mixed zoning and dedicated transportation systems that DON'T compete create thriving communities. I hope Ireland will make the jump.

[@bardylon]

It’s not just about building more houses, it’s about blocking or penalising people/corporations/ investment funds from buying multiple properties instead of rewarding them with tax breaks. The government needs to take action to ensure houses are sold to people who will live in them, and not just used as investment commodities.

[@yofuru]

exactly , thanks, that's the real problem at stake : corruption and greed.

[@diffedirl]

I agree that there are a lot of houses not going to the right people at the moment. However, we do need to solve where do the middle class - upper class put their money in the Irish economy? Stocks aren't an attractive option with current legislation, banks have only recently started offering meaningful interest rates, setting up a business or becoming a stakeholder in a venture is an option, but more risky. Our economy is setup to encourage investment in land, whether that's owning it, building on it, renting it, farming it. That's where everyone over 40 has stored their wealth.

[@MrMmbosu]

I don't think anyone is too bother with people buying 1,2,3 or 20 houses, but more bothered about investors buying large quantities of houses and basically controlling the rental market. I have seen with my own eyes in Dublin whole apartment block being kept empty "because we do not believe the rent is high enough yet, to get a good return"

[@Art-is-craft]

Wait a minute you think a housing shortage is not about building houses. Does anybody apply logic anymore?

[@wellsmaciel]

"It’s not just about building more houses" - A way to prioritize new buyers would be to increase significant the tax for ppl / company that has already a house/apartment. "The government needs to take action" - Maybe ensuring houses are sold only to ppl who will live in is not a easy way to control/resolve this problem or to find a short term solution...the house market has to be more flexible providing good conditions to new apartments and houses to be built. I heard that it is not easy to built a house in Ireland(I am not able to explain why) but it is something related to the regulations that are set. Unfortunately I am not sure why a country that has a huge GDP per capita cannot solve (quickly) a problem like that. It is same why the public hospitals.

[@AM987]

Ireland is more than just Dublin. You said it yourself Dublin has the highest density. Providing more service outside of Dublin (Cork, Limerick, Galway, etc) Where house availability is greater and cheaper is a better alternative. Provide good transport in and out Dublin to other cities where there's good amenities and jobs, less focus on Dublin and more other cities. Summarised decentralisation is a far better solution then Dublin oriented TD.

[@taxevader4095]

calling tod radical is odd, we have been using tod sense trains existed until cars started dominating in the 1980s Tod is the natural order, not radical

[@Gorg465]

For car-brained Americans it's hard to grasp

[@micosstar]

@@Gorg465ikr as someone in said country!

[@Art-is-craft]

Ireland cannot deal with a simple housing shortage yet people want to hand over the development of the country that will have generational implications.

[@dekustaz6346]

I love to see videos like this from an Irish perspective! We desperately need more people promoting these ideas. I lived in Nass for a bit and commuted in to Dublin, it's super viable but could have later trains

[@seanfinlay7393]

Agree, I commuted from Naas to Dublin by various means, mostly train. The service is good but there could be a significant increase in frequency especially after 19:00, with some late night services added too. The TOD approach could be applied to Galway Cork & Limerick too!

[@Art-is-craft]

It is nothing more than dangerous fantasy that would hand over more power to an incompetent governance culture. Remember we are talking about organisation that cannot even deal with potholes in roads.

[@DanielHowardIRE]

A major issue which doesn't appear to be adequately solved by Bus Connects is that many train stations that currently exist in the Great Dublin Area have poor connections to them, and were built with the automobile in mind such as park and ride. This solution works in the countryside but in the city it's not viable. For example, I live only a 5 minute drive from Clondalkin Fonthill rail station which is only served by one bus that comes every 30 mins, the L54. Its use is fine for those who live close to the bus route but useless for those like myself who don't. So my solution to get to the rail station? Either drive 5 mins and leave the car there, cycle there, walk 25 mins, or walk 15-20 mins and then take a bus. Why not have several local buses that pass by the station that pick people up from various surrounding neighbourhoods and drop them off? Also schedule the buses according to train times like in other countries.

[@anoniaino]

Scheduling buses to stop at train stations and align with trains is very important, especially rurally.

[@richiehoyt8487]

Living adjacent to Ronanstown Garda Station, I'm only about ⅔km from Clondalkin - Fonthill Station. On paper, it would seem like an ideal way of getting into and out of town. In practice, because I have impaired mobility, it's too far away to be worth using, especially if I'm expecting to be carrying bags of groceries. I can tell you though, that _'nobody'_ from the locality uses that station; everyone uses the bus instead for the kinds of reasons you indicate. As unreliable as the G2 into town is, it is mostly pretty frequent (every 10 or 15 minutes, roughly) so you can show up at the stop more or less 'on spec'. To make effective use of the _station_ though, which at times can feel quite 'spooky', you would have to plan your journey as if it were a military operation! That bus alone passes _en route_ numerous schools, shopping areas, 2 hospitals (3, if you include Steeven's Hospital), The Guinness brewery etc., not to mention numerous places where you can transfer to other routes. What might almost be a selling point for the train - an express service into Heuston - is negated by the fact that unless you are planning to connect to a mainline train, or possibly have business in James' hospital - a train to Heuston isn't really of much use, leaving you still 2 or 3 km from the city centre; although I'd have to concede that the situation in this respect has _hugely_ improved since the arrival of the tram (I refuse to use that awful, made~y - up~y word 'Luas'!) Ironically, Iarnród Éireann some years ago actually _moved_ Clondalkin - Fonthill Station from it's old location on Station Road (what else!) to its current situation in the middle of nowhere. While Station Rd. was considerably further away from me, it was a lot handier for most people. However, current works in the area suggest they may be putting in Park & Ride facilities, in the context of which the multi - million Euro move would seem to make some sense, and hopefully it _will_ make the station more relevant for people. Took 'em long enough, though!

[@Art-is-craft]

Dublin does not even have bus stations yet those in charge want to blow hundreds of billions on some fancy underground interconnected transport system. What I cannot understand is why people are so keen for these mega projects from the planners who caused housing crisis in that first. It is like allowing drug dealers to set Irish public drug policy wait a minute I think they are doing that.

[@factorfiction4824]

Doesn’t factor in how bad public transport is in Ireland

[@magma440]

Transit oriented development is going to be essential if Ireland is going to solve its housing crisis and kick its car dependency. The Greater Dublin Area is probably the best area for TOD, but I also think that the east coast, south coast, and Shannon River are also great places to implement TOD.

[@toyotaprius79]

Planning the economy beyond simple, laissez faire free market purposes would alleviate against the oversprawl of the Dublin greater area. Is the spread going to become all of Leinster?

[@OscarOSullivan]

@@toyotaprius79I hope not

[@Art-is-craft]

I cannot even believe that people calling for these massive economic development projects without a moments thought for the consequences. They could not even build a simple light rail system in Dublin and yet here everybody wants to hand over a trillion euro multi generation economic development policy to them. Dublin does not even have bus stations to run buses from

[@OscarOSullivan]

@@Art-is-craft There is Busáras Central Bus Station

[@Art-is-craft]

@@OscarOSullivan It is not a Dublin focused bus station but a national bus station that takes people out side the city. My point is more to do with having smaller stations through out the city to take some buses of the streets to allow better flow.

[@ahahaha3505]

Good luck with the channel! The country needs this analytical and creative approach.

[@yoironfistbro8128]

Shame so many comments are completely ignoring it and blaming population growth... in a country that has a fifth of the population it should have.

[@BOOMER751]

TOD looks a bit similar to the concept of "Villes nouvelles" implemented in the 1970's in France. It created 5 new cities in the outer ring of the Paris metro area. Each of these 5 new cities were created on one of the first 4 RER Lines (regional express railway) which were being built between 1962-1987. with lots of amenities including a brand new university in each new city. The goal was to decentralize the Paris region and rationalize the suburbanization which took off in the 1960's by creating autonomous cities and not just commuter suburbs.

[@Art-is-craft]

Look at the state of urban France and urban UK. They are warnings of what these social planners will do if given the keys to a countries development. If you think things are bad in Ireland now just give those responsible for the property shortage more powers for 20 years. They will blow trillions and turn Ireland into judge dread town.

[@Julianhaas1991]

I used to live in Dublin and went to a home viewing where there were around 40 to 60 families present for just one property. You had to provide your work references, and then you were selected if you were considered a good fit. It felt a lot like a job interview. Nowadays, even in the Netherlands, the housing situation has become similarly challenging. This experience occurred in 2017, and one of the reasons I moved back to the Netherlands was the high cost of living in Dublin.

[@RoganMatthew]

Was that for a rental property or to buy?

[@Julianhaas1991]

@@RoganMatthew Rental

[@Art-is-craft]

@@Julianhaas1991 Over 20 years ago I had similar experiences when attending property rental viewings. This is not a new problem for Dublin or Ireland. This current crisis was caused by planning and market regulations that go back decades and generations. Nearly half the price of Irish property development is regulations driven. The problem is that the public are not really interested in the causes.

[@Sn0wy_TV]

thought this video was done by a major channel but no so congratulations man this is very good!

[@gillianr-w8720]

1. Stop selling properties to companies who use property as a property portfolio. 2. Stop selling properties to foreign investment companies 3. Foreigners can only buy and own one privately owned property. 4. Empty and vacant properties can be taken over by the council and then done up and re purposed as properties for rent as social housing. 5. NEVER sell social housing. Renters of social housing must keep property in good repair. 6. I live in a very popular area and I can count about 20 empty and vacant properties about 1k around me, they have been empty for years. Might be a good start.

[@WhiteDeVil3]

Precisely on point ma'am, yours should be the top rated comment here.

[@talideon]

* Introduce a land value tax to replace property tax, with no loopholes to let people hoard unused land because it's "unimproved" or unoccupied, as these are reasons to tax them more heavily * Upgrade existing links through rail electrification: it's faster, cheaper, more fuel efficient, and the grade separation helps unblock road users * Subsidise rail properly and use bus links as lower speed complements to rail. * Make rail less miserable again: being able to get a cup of tea and a muffin on longer train journeys can really help * More stations around lines, but for this you need electrification * Encourage "urban villages": make it so that you don't need to go beyond easy walking difference to get almost everything you need, which means mixed use development, not suburbs.

[@ajarms86]

It's a great idea, and generally TOD should be policy, but I don't think that TOD alone would have much influence on Irelands housing crisis, the first step to solving Irelands housing crisis is to remove the current FF/FG government, the second step would be to block vulture funds from buying up all the supply and then 3rd step would be forming a state owned home building company who would build and sell homes at cost/affordable prices (this could use TOD as its building strategy) 👍🏼

[@Art-is-craft]

It is a terrible idea that is just part of the fancy thing culture in Ireland.

[@MolonyProductions]

Cut immigration. At the start of the video you said we have one of the fastest growing populations in Europe and within 30 seconds you said we have thousands emigrating.

[@philipmcdonagh1094]

Unfortunately its the Irish that's emigrating, there will be bugger all Irish left soon.

[@brian2973]

There was actually a fairly monumental TOD legislature pushed through Canadian government (in British Columbia) in the last couple of weeks that gives the province power to override and municipal level laws banning high density real estate that is in proximity to major transit hubs in cities like Vancouver for example. They've set out a minimum number of units that new developments must abide by based on their proximity to a hub. For example, withing 500m of a transit hub you must have a miniumum of 20 stories, within 750m a minimum of 15 etc etc. Basically NIMBY people don't have a leg to stand on anymore and can't fight the change. It will still take a long time for these developments to come to fruition and for it to make a meaningful dent in our housing crisis, but it is a major step in the right direction. If our real estate obssessive country (the portion of our GDP tied up in real estate is bigger than any other G7 nation) can manage to push through laws like this, I believe Ireland will be able to take similar steps.

[@Art-is-craft]

Canada has an abundance of free land yet it cannot develop it. Canada right now has a housing crisis yet those that have overseen it claim to have the answers.

[@subbies7881]

well, another solution would be to look at WHY the population is growing so fast, and maybe fix that instead?

[@MasterJaggins]

Bingo. The autistic logic of this content and it's commenters is disturbing. Continued population increase, when will it stop? Are we going to replace all our nature with concrete?

[@TomNook.]

Exactly. Anyone with a brain who hears "population is growing too fast"would argue "well let's slow it down then"

[@brianholmes1812]

As a Dublin Resident, I'm already in love with this channel. Clongriffen is a brilliant choice for TOD, and quite frankly its weird that it doesn't have it. I pass through on the train daily, and its relatively modern station feels like its ready built for the high capacity of a dense urban area that just doesn't exist

[@Art-is-craft]

TOD would be one of the largest disasters ever faced by Irish culture that will affect Irish culture for generations. They cannot solve pot holes in roads, repair schools, build a children’s hospital and yet people want to hand over national development to the very organisations that caused Irelands current housing crisis. The last couple of large development projects in Dublin to include the port tunnel and Lucas line should be indicators of what they are capable of doing.

[@brianholmes1812]

@@Art-is-craft do you hear yourself? TOD Is literally just building housing near train stations. THAT is supposed to be a disaster for Irish culture? More housing in response to a housing crisis? Stuff further away from the city centre to keep prices low but with easy access to it. As for thr organisation responsible... I don't have somebody in mind for this project, literally anybody could do it an I'd be happy. That being said if we are using the Luas and Port tunnels as examples then... it'll be extremely useful and become a vital part of the regions makeup?

[@Art-is-craft]

@@brianholmes1812 If are under the impression that the current housing crisis which has been caused by national planning is going to be solved by some fancy urban planning then you will be in for a shock. And why you would even trust such a planning system is beyond me. If they deregulate the market and start moving in the right direction then maybe they can get such a plan up and running

[@brianholmes1812]

@@Art-is-craft I genuinely don't understand your point here. This idea is to build more houses close together. Its not actually some fancy idea. Its build houses near a train station. Also deregulation if markets is near universally detrimental to consumers as price gouging and cut corners are always the result. Especially in housing considering developers are determined to build nothing but expensive inner city condos and big mansions far from prying eyes. Because that's where the money is. Businesses don't care about the people affected by the housing crisis because they don't have millions. They care about the people who can get them rich. Hense through a narional regulatory body we can encourage them to build mixed use affordable housing, ideally in walkable neighbourhoods near piblic transit connections

[@Art-is-craft]

@@brianholmes1812 My point is very simple Ireland has a housing crisis that can only be solved by building more properties and no amount of fancy ideology based around dense urban planning is going to change that. Ireland currently builds about 30000 houses a year but needs to be building 60000 a year just to meet population growth over the next 30 years. The only way Ireland can over come this is to deregulate planning. That does not mean no regulations at all. By the way that 60000 per year figure is out of date.

[@dzzope]

Tax investment, rental and second homes heavily. Tax relief for first time buyers, social housing owned by the state that those in need have the opportunity to buy over time instead of paying more into private individuals and companies just to rent.. I live in Donegal, one of the lesser populated areas but still being affected. 1 bed granny flat is over half my wages and I work near 60 hrs a week. You can't get planning permission in the countryside unless your family is local so .5 acre with planning or a ruin of a cottage is over 60k.. I was quoted a roof for a small 3 room (total, not bedrooms) of the same 60k and thats before any utility is installed or walls wiindows or anything else done. And in towns, land and houses are even more expensive for the obvious reasons. How us anyone that is not in a v good job ever supposed to afford that? The housing market here is like something you hear about from the states. Keep the poor, poor, so that you can keep milking them for every moment they have and every penny they get. My mother managed to buy a house as a single parent of 3 while working basic jobs, you just cant do that anymore. Also, apparently I can afford the rent my entire adult life but a morgage(which is less a month) I can't, according to the banks... What do you do.

[@skintythe1andonly]

I'm Irish but have lived on the continent for the last 12 years (mostly Sweden). The thing that drives me mad is the emphasis on houses and not appartments to solve the density problem. Developers happy to knock more woodland to build the identical 100 houses so people can have a garden they don't use. If you want to get young professionals out from their parents feet, allow them to buy small suitable cheaper appartments or else they just end up in a house share which could be used for family otherwise. I've slowly moved up to bigger/nicer appliances and will probably be considering a house next. The solution is not to build houses but to build suitable housing for people at all stages of life. I do agree with the sentiment of this video though. Dense, modern housing for young professionals wanting to get out from their parents easier as well as be suitable for those coming for work who don't need to house a family. Leave the houses to those that need them.

[@heads2gether]

It would help if the government forced the commercial sector into accepting WFH rather than forcing people back into offices and hence into demand to be near city centres

[@TheKamilkrawczak]

Just got my eviction notice few weeks ago in Galway. I don't know what to do anymore. Prices literally doubling. Its in politicians/landlords best interest to keep numbers of house low as this way they can use scarcity to make more money.

[@peterlaurent9905]

Limerick junction could be a great option. 2 rail lines . Imagine a large hospital and high density housing complex

[@marsrockfromspace5750]

Cork kinda already did this where they made sure towns that were connected via rail would be the focus of new development to make the line worth it

[@kieranfitzgerald]

Yes Cork has being trying to do this for the last fifty years, with many new or expanded towns such as Midleton, Monard, and Carrigtohill. The big problem has been lack of funding and commitment to funding at central government level for public transport. Only now are these plans coming to fruition due to the availability of EU backed covid recovery funds.

[@yoironfistbro8128]

@@kieranfitzgerald I haven't seen any development going on over there. I have, however, seen plenty of estates popping up in poorly connected suburbs and towns, like Ballincollig, Glanmire, and Carrigaline

[@kieranfitzgerald]

@@yoironfistbro8128 The important word is trying. Glanmire is actually on the rail corridor. It's station was never constructed due to the dunkettle interchange upgrade getting priority at national level. Carrigtohill is one of the fastest growing towns in Ireland, Midleton likewise. Monard is the only area that hasn't progressed. Most of the growth in Ballincollig and Carrigaline happened before 2000. The planner's priority since 2000 in Cork, has been to focus as much development as possible on the rail corridor; though this has been local planning policy since the LUTS plan of 1978, it hasn't always been possible to follow through, mainly due to various economic and political interests at odds with sustainable urban growth.

[@Eoin-B]

TOD did not fix Tokyo's housing crisis, which was far, far worse than ours even after their financial crash. Removing local planning offices and centralising them along with loosening planning regulations and neighbourhood objections did. It was a huge thing over there. Inspired by the Soviet central housing planning. It's now a pretty architecturally mixed situation in neighbourhoods there. Still, it cut red tape, and removed local planning offices wanting to keep certain aesthetics and their local house prices high in the areas they are from. Housing stock shot up as the country was struggling from a deep recession. The exact opposite of what we did post-2008.

[@olegbobrovskiy3244]

I live near Clonsilla, a 10 minute walk from the train station. The area is seeing new housing being built quite quickly between the Ongar/Clonsilla stops. One issue is my estate not leaving you with any choice but to go down a muddy slope to get to the canal to walk to the train station, as well as the footpath by the canal being unpaved. If the canal was more walkable it would be better for locals who want to use the public transport.

[@SamiHentunen]

It's crazy how much you have to go around the estates there to go from A to B by foot. No wonder people don't walk.

[@Art-is-craft]

The canals in Ireland should be used for goods transfer. Transport on water is 10 times more efficient due to simply physics. Ireland is a true central planning mess that emphasises the welfare state.

[@olegbobrovskiy3244]

Would be cool but I find it hard to imagine trade happening by my local canal :)@@Art-is-craft

[@Art-is-craft]

@@olegbobrovskiy3244 It would not be a system that gets used to deliver parcels but could be used for bulk goods transfer such raw materials like sand or agricultural supplies. It would mean moving millions of tons of goods for a fraction of the cost and a fraction of the carbon output. But it does require planning to build such a system.

[@kaanylmaz2415]

I swear I thought same things with you. I"m currently living in Clongriffin and when I see the space around the dart station I thought why they cant just build high density houses here? My solution is : apartments are for students and temporary workers houses are for families.

[@johnmatrix-qf4jd]

Back in 2006 we built 86000 houses. It can be done. This is an intentionally created so called crisis.

[@yoironfistbro8128]

Thank you for not blaming refugees or immigration, as if the housing crisis didn't exist before 2022, and there isn't an absurd lack of construction at the moment.

[@PolyhedralMedia]

This video was great, beautifully edited and gives a surprisingly in depth summary within just six minutes!

[@paddyj7690]

The problem with TOD is that public transportation is horrendous in Ireland. In 2016 it took me 75 minutes each way from my house to my office. I live in a Dublin suburb and my office was in the city center. A quicker option required two changes. That was 2016. Traffic has increased immensly, but transportation hasn't improved a bit.

[@fretstain]

if anyone's curious, check out what they've just done in the province of BC in Canada. The province has put in place drastic zoning changes for areas within a certain radius of transit hubs. It'll be interesting in the next 10-20 years to see how it develops.

[@rinnin]

Jesus, it’s great to hear someone with an Irish accent realising how screwed we are and looking at better models around the world. Hopefully someone government might take note or you get millions of followers who will push them to. Subscribed! 🙏🌍🌱

[@SynomDroni]

Too much macro politics, not enough talk about house ownership. All the ecological and infrastructural considerations are great, but we don't want to end up with the rich owning the property and the common folk being their rent slaves. Again!

[@SuperGurrier]

Too much to be lost by those in government who themselves are landlords to actively seek a logical solution, they line their pockets while ireland bleeds it's most valuable resource, it's young people.

[@Upperroad4480]

I'm not surprised there is an housing shortage when there is an immigration deluge.apartments aren't the way. Build real detached houses.that way people can maintain their privacy and their sanity.a noise nuisance in a block of flats is a nightmare.i speak from years of experience of it.

[@jamescurran1375]

Doing this would be completely unsustainable. Motorways are already packed now and building more sprawling estates will only add to this. Huge estates of detached houses can’t really be serviced well by buses, let alone trains so a massive increase in traffic is inevitable.

[@emanwhomakesbarrels701]

The vast majority of the sites you've picked are along the maynooth/M3 parkway to conolley/pearse rail corridor. This rail line already runs at near capacity if not at capacity with trains every 20-15 minutes at peak times. They can't run more trains because beyond that it'd not be safe and their isn't enough room at Connelly. Their only real option would be to expand these lines or electrify them. Something the government isn't keen on. Your idea isn't new to the government either. Look at pelletstown a recently built station just up from broombridge. The brown field development there has seen a huge amount of apartments go up.

[@rachelwhittle8800]

Low density sprawl is great thank you

[@wolf6543211]

Build more homes and build the infrastructure to support them. Existing transport infrastructure is not fit for purpose. Roads and rail need considerably more spent on them.

[@alancawfield6549]

For those in the comments saying that houses have to built in Dublin because that is where the demand is should realise that now a large percentage of people work from home so building in Dublin is not as necessary as it once was. The prevelance of WFH should now be used to properly spread out the development of the country and reduce the need to build in Dublin and it's surrounding areas.

[@MoschMie]

Haha Tokyo.. right. Apartments measuring 2m² 👍🏼

[@juanchoja]

As an immigrant who has been here for 24 years, one of the old school classic emigration processes of skilled labour shortage, I say that we also need to return a lot of refugees and improvised immigrants doing menial jobs. Every Ukraining that I met goes back to Ukraine for Christmas or whatever reason and comes back as if they were going to Spain. If you're really a refugee, you are not to return to your country because your life is supposed to be in danger, that's asylum 101. Have you been in Adamstown? It's all newly built, huge, and in a housing estate, you'll be lucky to see 1-2 native households. That's not right, not fair. Ireland for the Irish first, and for the rest if needed in a planned and sustainable approach.

[@tcdnbm]

I can’t believe this is considered radical, to me this is sensible. We’d probably have to improve the public transport structure first and reduce dependency on cars beforehand, but this would be a great follow-up proposal.

[@MEANASSJAMSTER]

How to build a ghost town; - First, - build town around railway station... Next, wait for government officials to close the railway.... = your ghost town is Ready!

[@rapnsee]

What about all the private golf courses in the Dublin area? Couldn't we just build high density housing there instead?

[@ttopero]

It’s great to have stations with direct access to the city and it’s economy, with development opportunities surrounding it. I hope that TOD is implemented differently there than in the U.S. where it’s often parceled in large lots, with below-market sales prices, to large ‪corporate developers who use foreign (out of the area) financing, to build overscaled warehouses for people, that often lack full amenities to allow many to NOT have to take transit for daily errands. Also, considering that much of the housing stock is intended for city workers priced out of their area of employment, what protections are in place to prevent being turned into a “transit oriented ghetto”?

[@SatumainenOlento]

Yes!!! This is exactly what should have been talked about in this video too!!! Because there is many lessons to be taken from other countries how NOT to implement TOD. It needs to be done the right way.

[@ttopero]

@@SatumainenOlento In fairness though, their latest video did get into what a TOD plan could look like with more use diversity than just a subdivision next to a train station. I’m hopeful from other ideas they’ve shared that they’ll also introduce some real TOD innovations too🤞🏼

[@P5YCHO1192]

Ryanair recently bought a rake of new build houses in an estate ( the majority of the houses) for their staff. Mental!! So many families locked out immediately.

[@RIP_Milhouse]

The issue is not one of throughput from developers, the issue is Government policies. Everyone could have/afford a home with a few strokes of a pen.

[@bryanmcdonnell6899]

The biggest problem is that the Goverment doesn't have the power to compulsory purchase land for housing developments like they can do for road and electricity infrastructure. There are golf clubs like Clontarf along key rail routes that are suitable for housing development but cannot be acquired.

[@AnthonyMcRedmond-Vg2ry]

There was a plan to buy the golf course before covid not sure if its still been bought but its a great site for high density housing

[@guyincognito9938]

I would much prefer if they actually go and finish those railway lines instead of building up new developments next to them. The M3 parkway line is there because of a scrapped project to connect Navan to Dublin by train, if they'd just finish the damn thing that would automatically create more housing demand in Navan instead of contributing more to Dublin's sprawl.

[@bikeman9899]

Very happy to see a considered and professional approach to a national mess. My two cents . Amsterdam, Paris, Vienna and a raft of other European capitals and major metros all manage their housing so much better. The problem in IRL isn't urban planning models as much as NIMBYISM. This is a political problem, where over 40s have their net worth tied up in property which is leveraged. People are terrified of increasing supply driving down prices, and being upside down on their mortgages. This not a real risk, but it is what ppl fear. The government has to bite the bullet and accept that if they don't build enough homes, or create the environment for building developers to do so, they are going to find themselves out of office.

[@paulwalsh598]

None of those countries doubled their population in the last 50 years. All of those countries have had stable family sizes since the 1960s. All of those cities had existing suitable stocks of housing from 19th century, Ireland did not. The issue that makes Ireland unique is the fastest population growth of any developed country on the planet, inadequate supply of suitable housing prior to 1950s, and smaller family size in the last 40 years.

[@bikeman9899]

@paulwalsh598 TBH, it sounds as though you're saying, " IRL is unique, poor housing stock to start, and big growth in population, so we were handicapped " . While there is some truth to that, it is a defeatist attitude IMO. Sure, IRL has nearly doubled its population in 62 years (I looked back to 1960 for the numbers in my comment). But, it is not unique. High, but not unique. I did a quick calculation on the population growth (CAGR) for these countries since 1960. Iceland 1.3%, IRL 0.97%, France.0.64%, Italy 0.03%, NTH 0.71%, Spain 0.72%. A couple of observations here. In absolute terms, yes IRL nearly doubled since 1960. That's not very useful, because compared to others such as France, Spain and the NTH, it's not that high Iceland, also an OECD country, also an island, also a part of an empire, grew at 1.3% p.a.in this period. So, IRL isn't the highest. Fast for sure, but not that special. To your point about housing stock, there is some truth to that, but it's not a good argument. All the countries I noted above, except ICELAND, were colonial nations, and they had significant wealth and housing stock of varying quality partly bc of the colonial model. IRL, really was an outpost of the British Empire, not a colonizer as such , so didn't have the historical infrastructure that flowed from the spoils of Empire. In many ways, Iceland and Ireland are very apt comparisons. Small island nations, part of the Empire system as colonized territories, large area relative to population. Iceland doesn't have a homeless problem. It has lots of issues to be sure, but ppl on the streets is not one of them. I visited Reykjavik a couple of years ago, and I saw no homeless ppl. IRL has a political problem in that land is hoarded by existing property owners, and not placed into productive use. Example, look at the derelict buildings in the north of the inner city of Dublin. Owners are incentivized to hold these, and not sell ( e.g. to developers for housing) bc there is no real cost to them to leave them as derelict property. Local property tax in IRL is miniscule, the new hoarding tax is great, but too little to make a difference, so these buildings remain unusable. After 100 years of independence from the British, it's past time to accept the problems re housing are largely of our own design. It's not foreigners, the EU, the UN or anyone outside. It's all domestic. One final set of numbers. In terms of population density, IRL is about 70 ppl/ km 2. Similar to rhe US interestingly. But, compared to our near neighbors, UK, France, Italy, who are about 220ppl/km2 , the Netherlands is about 400 ppl /km 2 (from.memory, this may be off ) IRL is sparsely populated. The country is a very big farm. There are powerful vested interests in maintaining the status quo, and I suspect, quite happy to see pressure vent by accepting emigration as a release from the system. That's a real shame. I hope Irish ppl don't fall for the trap the British did and blame outsiders (Brexit) for domestic problems. New towns, new railway, new roads and all the rest are needed pronto. My fear is, if this problem of housing isn't solved, extremists will get more powerful.

[@irisobobo]

The problem is one thing and one thing only. Conflict of interest. Only the people who would lose money/votes by fixing housing actually CAN fix the housing.

[@HavokR505]

I have this crazy idea about fixing this... stop... importing... more population....

[@oliver_rocks80]

The problem shouldn't be as a result of more population. More people = more jobs = more money in the economy which SHOULD equal to more houses being built. The lack of governmental control over vulture funds buying up planning permission or developments is one of the key reasons for the crisis. While more population is inevitable, from migration or not, we need enough housing to match that increase

[@yoironfistbro8128]

​@@oliver_rocks80 THANK YOU I've absolutely had it with people acting like population growth is a bad thing. Not only is it not a bad thing, but in the long term, we need even more of it. After all, we're only like 180 years overdue having a decent population like the rest of Europe

[@batyushki]

Just to call out some existing TOD in the Dublin area: Cherrywood, Sandyford, etc along the green Luas line. I don't know the other sites but the train station at Kilcoole in County Wicklow is in the middle of a protected and sensitive environment (the Breaches / Murrough complex) which would curtail most development in close proximity to the station. The small town of Kilcoole is actually a mile up the road from the train they are not even connected by a footpath or bus today. I think they would need to move the rail line inland in order to make high density development viable.

[@Ophelia771]

Another line is needed anyway on the Dublin to Wexford line. One of the problems with complete lack of investment in rail. Trains have to wait in Wicklow station to pass each other as it is so increase frequency is a problem. Another rail line, the Rosslare to Waterford closed due to lack of people using it but it timetable was terrible. You didn't get into Waterford early enough and often met with a bridge lift in Waterford. And then the evening left at 5 or 8. God forbid maybe actually schedulling it for 6.15 or 6.30. I lived as close enough to the train station Rosslare but was easier to get the bus to Waterford while in college. Now that is under consider to be brought back into use.

[@ChillaxeMake]

The issue with greater density is that even more traffic jams may occur. Trams could get stuck in tram traffic due to the high volumes of people, and the Durmcondra road is already bad enough in terms of traffic.

[@ptolemyegan8578]

Places that use systems similar to TOD have dense transport vehicles, and they alsi have efficient rerouting and timetabling systems (largely because they have to). Why are Swiss trains so good? To some extent because they run a system like this and need good public transport. Furthermore, better density leads to more walkable areas (as regards distance to work/shops/cultural areas) and so potentially less traffic. Plus, this traffic may encourage greater public transport use.

[@KevinMcAllisterstherapist]

Loving these videos and the channel! Great quality productions, keep it up!

[@jaredhudson5317]

Great video! Looking forward to seeing the plans for the proposed site.

[@aoifel895]

I always think about how Thurles is only just over an hour by train to get to Dublin but with house prices half that of Dublin (and closer to my family) but the another issue is that Houston is so far away from everything else you're looking at another 30-45 minutes to get anywhere in the city from there

[@jeanjacques9980]

I don’t live in Ireland but my impression of Dublin is that it has the worst public transport system of any major European capital. As far as I know any rail lines into Dublin are just two rail lines, one each way, there is a need for four lines to manage slow commuting lines and two rails for fast trains bypassing slow trains. Which leads onto high speed rail links from Dublin to Cork, Galway, Limerick Donegal, Waterford/Rosslare and possibly Belfast but that would have to be jointly funded by the U.K. Could you imagine Dublin being dissected by 4 or 5 RER lines? And a TGV or maglev to Cork?

[@x1achilles99]

I'm an architect in California. I've been to Europe many, many times but never Ireland and I had no idea there was a housing shortage (like here in California). Sad to hear you have NIMBYs. We are fighting them here with all kinds of legislation allowing increased density. As you know, since WWII, Cal has had terrible automobile oriented zoning.

[@peterincork3121]

I think we in Ireland invented nimbyism (joking, almost), but there are other reasons too such as politicians from all parties objecting because of representations to them, even politicians who at the same time are hitting the government for not providing enough housing !!! We do hypocrisy well here too 🙂 Another issue is that our building sector was badly hit in the 2008-2013 economic crash, where a lot of small builders/tradesmen got badly burnt and either retired or just stayed small which had the knock on effect of not taking on apprentices. There has been a big effort to grow the number of apprentices over the last 2-3 but it could take another 5-10 before we feel that significant increase. In the meantime, the housing shortage is not going to solved any time soon unfortunately. One possibility is prefabricated homes, which you are familiar with in the US, that would get more supply in to the system faster.

[@andrewlally605]

The only reason nimbyism exists is generally because of bAd urban planners amd lack of consideration for context. Community consultations and sensible planning would aboid gridlock in courts and if the planning authorities were not corrupt as has been shown and upheld their own planning inspectors recommendations in many cases (shell in rossport comes to mind) and didnt overturn the original recommendations people would have confidence in urban planning. The trouble si with state corruption in planning and lack of accountability and all the negative consequences. Huge tracts of dublin are planning nightmares to undo

[@biulaimh3097]

The solution is to reverse the deliberate inflation in existing housing stock, which has been financed using the 200 billion euro, borrowed by the government since 2009. The necessary deflation in house prices and repayment of the debt can be accomplished by punitive weekly taxes on existing houses and the immediate advertised sale of any house in tax arrears on a government website.

[@maciej_jeicam]

I think there's also another big shift in today's economy that is rarely talked about on urbanist/transport channels: change in people's work life. Let me clarify: 3-4 decades ago it was pretty common around the world to work for the same company for a decade or two. You could have bought a house near your employer's location and spend life without a need to commute too much. Fast forward to 2023 and the situation is much more dynamic: private means of transportation are more prevalent than ever, companies transfer manufacturing overseas, people change jobs every few years 'cause they can (to improve their position) or because they need to (reductions, etc.). Ofc it's not to say that it's entirely new phenomenon, but it feels like it's more dynamic than it used to be.

[@maciej_jeicam]

That being said, oftentimes cities are either lagging entirely in transport and/or housing development, or they are lagging with PLANNING for the development mentioned above, that leads to uncontrolled sprawl that then needs to be taken care of when it comes to transport and infrastructure.

[@Runboyrun89]

What the government paper actually said; “The “most plausible” scenario outlined by the paper, with a 2050 population of 6.75 million, 200-year lifespans for existing homes and falling household sizes comes in at a need for 42,000-62,000 homes per year. Lower assumptions suggest a need of 21,000 while the highest modelled figure is for 72,000 per year.” So a large range and inputs that are uncertain. This year will likely see 30k+ plus which is the 4th highest in Europe and would be more than sufficient if we hadn’t a shortfall for a decade. This also excludes student housing. At 2.5 per home, that is 70k people housed and that is c. 1.3% of the population. Another few years of that and we will be in a good position. I think this plan will be a good one for 2035 onwards when we start to exhaust the brownfield and north Dublin routes.

[@haralamc]

There is a solution, force air bnb to declare all bookings and ammounts to revenue then tax them 48% This would immediately dump a massive ammount of houses back onto the rental market

[@haralamc]

I cant rent a house in my home town of kenmare because there's nothing to rent, there is over 100 houses available in kenmare on air bnb that are empty for 2 thirds the year

[@lorcan1213]

More radical solution - build a 200km/hr speed train line from Port Arlington to Dublin (20 min travel time), and start building high rises and have well laid out transport route/planning in portarlington/portlaois - make it a reasonable sized city. From there build a 200km track to cork, same idea. At the same time speed up the meath etc commuter belt train lines to Dublin. Not only starts tackling housing but also makes Ireland far better connected via public transport over time

[@roryoneill9444]

Use the remaining Ghost Estates stuck in the court system and modernise and streamline the planning permission process. Ireland next big issue in housing is the lack of construction "skilled and experienced" workers, Ireland lost a lot of these workers during the last bust, this is see in the amount of houses being built, there is only enough construction teams to create 29,000. I remember in 2010 standing in a queue to sign on, it was so long that it took three hours and stretched out the door of the Social Welfare office in Cork, the vast majority of those people were from the construction industry as well as Catering and logistics sectors. When Sinn Fein or PBP or some other eejit talks about the Government building houses, it is just stupid (You won't see Paul Murphy TD on a building site). It is not the Government that builds houses, it is builders. The Government can only create legislation to incentify something like encouraging Irish Builders returning to Ireland from abroad or to simplify a legal process. Mary Lou going to Australia to tell Irish builders to come back to Ireland, (when it was Sinn Fein & PBP that made the construction industry in Ireland into the scape goats for the bust), rings hollow in the ears of those scape goats.

[@johnpearcey]

Why is the population growing so fast?

[@yoironfistbro8128]

I don't know why, but I'm glad it is. This country has been far too underpopulated for far too long.

[@johnpearcey]

@@yoironfistbro8128 Probably all those immigrants

[@yoironfistbro8128]

@@johnpearceyThat would explain it alright. Hopefully over time we can ramp up construction, and that way we can speed up population recovery even more. After all, we're only like 180 years overdue not being depressingly underpopulated.

[@johnpearcey]

@@yoironfistbro8128 I moved here specifically because it was nice and quiet. Looks like I'll be moving again soon.

[@yoironfistbro8128]

@@johnpearcey Urban countries still have quiet parts. Rural countries don't have exciting parts. It's always better to live in a urban country than a rural one like Ireland

[@Boreas74]

It would be nice to see how these ideas would work away from Dublin/the east coast. What would TOD look like in the north west for example?

[@Noobsaibot21]

Definitely could do with more trains and stations for the north west (Donegal is nearly an Island if you exclude travel through NI). But there's options - the Train to M3 Parkway could (and really should) be extended right out to Cavan (via Navan > Kells > Virginia > Cavan). Perhaps extend the existing Dublin-Sligo route to Letterkenny (via Bundoran > Donegal Town > Stranrolar). All these small-medium towns have TONNES of room to develop. Incentivising businesses (particularly service or manufacturing) to open up shop in places like Cavan, Kells, Letterkenny etc... rather tha Dublin would yield good results over time (but the lines need to be laid first)

[@johnoconnell3842]

Everything is too slow in this country. They’ve been bragging about development plans in cork for years but nothing ever happens. North ring road mooted 20 years ago hello? Dockland development tediously slow, new retail outlet village stuck in city council warfare. we are so centralised it’s not even funny. There are no road markings on some crazily busy road corridors on the north of cork city. Absolutely neglected. As a single guy approaching mid life I was fortunate to be able to find a rental property after returning from overseas work. Trouble is I’m renting and living alone in a three bedroom house because we don’t have apartments in cork unless you’re a student. There is no one with a plan and making things happen from my perspective. Even if I was cash rich there are physically no new homes to buy anywhere within a few kilometres of me and technically I live in cork city. Shambolic country tbh

[@stevoc4023]

Other factors need to be examined. Do we need more construction or do we need to stop investment companies buying new developments and hoarding empty properties to artificially maintain inflated prices? How much property is currently rented, how many of those people would prefer to buy and how can they buy what property investment companies are not willing to sell? How can anyone afford a new build regardless of where it is built? A large percentage of TD's and influential people are property owners, government will not behave in a manner to reduce their own investments (80% people above 40 are property owners). Inflation, the double edged sword which pushes property prices higher and the value of salaries lower. Salaries have failed to match inflation since the dollar was removed from the gold standard. All currencies relate directly to the dollar as the reserve currency. What is making the population grow at such an alarming rate when birth rate in Ireland is 1.7, which is below replacement rate and you state young people are emigrating? Could it be possible that the immigration system is being exploited to further increase profits of private enterprise? Create demand where there is none? Push 15 minute cities as the agenda? I would like to see a thorough analysis on all data points before a single sod is turned. GDP says Ireland is wealthy. Workers aren't seeing it, small indigenous businesses aren't seeing it, who is?

[@shanegannon1689]

My play thought is that Tokyo, where home ownership is much more achievable, is related to Japan's low population growth. This has prevented houses (though not land) from becoming an investment.

[@Art-is-craft]

Japan is a disaster that Ireland does not want to emulate.

Glad to see your plans for future videos. You've earned a subscriber.

[@user-yz9cl2gb7n]

What about balanced regional development in areas far removed from the capital will TOD not just cement the economic primacy of Dublin

[@kevinjackson745]

There are a few things that are absolutely insane about this video, but I want to focus on one: if TOD is effective, it can only be because we have built rail in the past to low density areas. How could this possibly scale? Is this supposed to be repeatable? Build rail inefficiently to low density areas, then redevelop those areas to be high density because there's a rail line there? That's crazy!

[@flytrapYTP]

That's literally how America was built, you dunce. That's how civilisation is created.

[@tomasdevine7756]

We dont have a housing problem we have a migration problem its just that simple.

[@JoeyRizz]

Exactly. The government is hell bent on artificially super inflating the population and making life as difficult as possible for the natives, encouraging us to emigrate ourselves. Leaving Ireland for the short-term economic migrants, the financially beneficial for the state refugee, and the mega rich political class who get rich off of ruining Ireland.

[@clearz3600]

Yawn,

[@tomasdevine7756]

@clearz3600 yawn at home with your keyboard that's all you got by the look of ya.

[@777giorgos]

The answer is always high quality commute! Dublin and its surrounding counties unfortunately remind me a lot of US urban planning, with suburbs far away from city, few amenities nearby and bad to non-existent commute to the city. This has to be fixed, yes TOD may be a solution but as other say it is not that radical, it's actually common sense. I think the government needs to wake up, they are so deep in lobbyist pockets which makes them deliberately extremely slow to react. The housing crisis v2 started around 2015 (at least that's when I moved to Dublin) and its gotten 10x worse since then. That is ~9 years where the gov made 0 progress! What about commute? They connected the green tram line to red around 2018, before that people had to walk 20-25 min to reach to the other line. No metro exists yet (they said for years to build one), it's a joke, one of the few capitals of EU that have no metro line connecting their airport! Instead the coach lobby has politicians deep in their pockets & has a near monopoly on transport from-to airport, so of course there is no metro! I'm sorry but the current gov does not have my trust on tackling those issues. The best chance is if they lose the elections to a party that promises to tackle those issues with radical improvements in public transport infrastructure and TOD ofc.

[@Dylan20579]

Stop letting so many sponging immigrants in

[@daithideburca98]

Why Dublin though, why is Dublin always Ireland's focus

[@carolinireland1684]

Dublin has universities, specialised medical centres, transit and shopping. Many people don’t want to be car dependent for their needs.

[@lostcarpark]

Great video. I definitely agree we need to be looking at transit orient development of high density housing. However, high density doesn't have to mean high rise. Most of Paris is 5-7 stories, and it has very high density housing. There seems to be a focus on maximising the the density of single sites with "landmark" towers, however, often these limit the options for developing surrounding sites. More modest developments on a larger scale would be more sustainable. The other problem is the pace of transit development is far too slow. Most of the locations you listed are on train lines that are already struggling with the volume of passengers. Most could easily accommodate more passengers by running higher frequency trains, but the city centre doesn't have the capacity to receive that many trains at present. And the Metro North/MetroLink or whatever it gets renamed to next has been languishing in planning for decades. The fact that it's still not expected to be ready till 2035 is ridiculous. We need urgent improvements to existing lines, and we need a solid plan to build at least 2-3 new rail routes through the city. We also need to ensure that the high density transit oriented housing is built in a sustainable way that people can genuinely live in them without the need to own a car. My fear is that they will become more car dependent neighbourhoods, and the transit links will be inadequate so their residents will join the ranks of car commuters into the city. Finally, I think there are a lot of sites within the city that could be developed as housing. For example, there are four golf courses along the DART line. I know we need green spaces in the city, but golf courses are only used by a tiny proportion of the population. If they were moved out of the city they could provide a lot of ideal transit oriented development land.

[@RobinJ]

Better late than never but it's like Ireland is finally taking/getting an introductory class to the concept of urban planning... There really isn't much "radical" about this, it's the utter basics they should have known about before ever being allowed to be in charge of anything.

[@mikekelly5869]

I'm a fan of TOD if it's done properly. It's not without risks though. Paris did something similar and ended up with ghettos. Adamstown in Dublin is an early TOD project and it isn't a particularly nice place to live It remains to be seen whether Cherrywood will be any better. The Swiss model worked well in the 80's and 90's, particularly around Geneva, but I've been hearing stories about areas declining in recent years.

[@davidplalor]

Great, this whole policy depends on the NBRU not holding everyone to ransom. Or leaves on the track, or 'technical difficulties' or the regular track jumpers.

[@peterlewis7228]

Nothing radical at all needed for the housing crisis. BUILD NEW HOUSES and lots of them. Simples! Yes!

[@yoironfistbro8128]

Finally someone who actually gets it! The only solution is to buuild more homes, not to stagnate population growth in a country that's already far too underpopulated as it is.

[@RyanMoran1992]

Im Australian but with an Irish dad. We spent time in Ireland this year and last, mostly between Leixlip and Maynooth where my uncle and grandparents live. It seems to me as though much of the increase in population (and therefore demand for housing) is due to immigration. Is this growth really sustainable? It seems Ireland is losing its identity a bit, and just becoming another miscellaneous western country. The areas I just mentioned and which you propose increasing housing density may be close to Dublin and rail lines, but they are also dense in historic sites and culture. I cant help but feel a lot of this may get erased in favour of Tokyo-ifying the city. Dublin is quite unique in its lack of density and low-rise development history. Does everywhere in the world need to be big glass towers and train stations? I dont have an answer really, just thinking out loud

[@cocazade7703]

Irish in Australia hahaha please shut up

[@lejimmy]

You speak sense. Ireland seems to want to erase itself.

[@ramochai]

You make sense. I visited London, GB first time in 9 years and I was shocked to see how the city lost its identity and became just another miscellaneous capital littered with glass and steel high rises. Such a shame.

[@nln5035]

A good place for TOD would be Woodlawn in County Galway. It’s just a train station in the middle of nowhere that has potential to build a proper town around. And it could work especially if the Government builds traditional looking architecture. It would turn what is just a rural train station into a commuter town for both Galway, Athlone and Dublin

[@deathdealer4819]

i like this idea, but also don't neglect rural Ireland, i live in a basically dying rural town where there is next to no public transport to nearer bigger towns, since covid most businesses have closed, so there is high unemployment, there is no amenities for kids etc etc, but what we do have is loads of land where you could easily quadruple the towns population and inject some life and economy into the place

[@spinnersesq]

It's great that all your ideas to fix Ireland focus on Dublin and Dublin suberbs. Where are your ideas for the rest of Ireland?

[@lorcanmurphy9072]

The Dutch did this on a city basis after the war, and decentralized at the same time

[@bcgraham3512]

Just don't repeat the awful 'new town' mistakes the UK made in the 70's. The Central Belt of Scotland, through which the main railway line between Edinburgh and Glasgow runs as does the M8 motorway, contains a few examples (Livingstone, Cumbernauld and others) and even the good people who live there would probably agree it's not lovely.

[@xXKingEllisXx]

There honestly just needs to be more business developments in other irish cities, you can't just focus on Dublin or the demand will just constantly exceed the supply. Other cities have plenty of land, people, and education which need to be leveraged as opposed to constantly having people moving and immigrating into a city which is already plagued with issues.

[@itsme-xw6mh]

That looks great. Good video. Is there no bus bays in your TOD plan ?

[@GTAVictor9128]

It's important to emphasis transport infrastructure, because for all the supposed economic growth Ireland had on economic reports, it's honestly embarrassing how underdeveloped Irish public transport infrastructure is compared to the rest of Europe - particularly rail. Trains are the most effective and clean way of transporting people between cities, yet Irish Rail is an absolute joke. The east and west networks aren't connected, so if you're travelling by train from Galway to Cork, you'd have to board two trains at two separate stations in Dublin. The west network isn't electrified, and times are very infrequent which naturally makes train travel in Ireland inconvenient. If you're not travelling by car, the bus is the most reliable way to travel around the country. But visit literally any other European country on the mainland, and the train service there feels like a luxury compared to Ireland.

[@hockitibontas]

I think it would be better to prioritise vacant properties, ghost estates, and empty high rises/repurposing office blocks - Way before we start carving up even more Greenfield's

[@bodiddly12]

Thanks for sharing. This is a great approach and you have identified some excellent potential areas for housing development.

[@flytrapYTP]

This radical solution is also known in other countries as 'planning' or 'strategy'

[@stealthirl]

There’s plans to put 5k units near 1 of Leixlip’s stations and the other has lots already near it and Intel beside it, Celbridge station is literally on the Dublin/Kildare boarder and the field directly opposite it is prone to flooding historically. There is plans for more housing nearby along with the very long awaited 2nd bridge that’s likely going in totally the wrong place. Both towns suffer from a lack of infrastructure. There’s not enough school places for the current population, not enough doctors either. For reference celbridge and leixlip have over 30k population likely nearing 40k. If the powers that be actually planed for the future it would be revolutionary.

[@chestypants78]

I feel like having landlord politicians is a bit of a hurdle towards cheaper housing. What about the rental cottage industry here? Some couple buy a second property to rent out, but they soon (for various reasons) decide to sell the property and turf out the family renting it. On the continent there are many apartments that are rented from what is basically a company attached to a pension fund. These will not be sold soon, giving residents that peace of mind.

[@dwarffortress69]

You mistake the housing "crisis" as a failure in planning. Rather, the housing "crisis" is the outcome planned for.

[@andrewlally605]

I don t want any development at the m3 parkway before they introduce a direct sliproad to the r154 to trim instead of having to cross the m3 at the m3 parkway only to cross it again at the fairyhouse roundabout. It is ridiculous that trim athboy traffic gets caught up in two unnecessary junctions when a direct sliproad is possible and to some extent already follows an existing link road on the trim side of the m3. It will cause massive traffic tailbacks in the future if it is not addressed before any intensive development at m3 parkway