Los Angeles Zoning Research

Ann Arbor, MI

Spring 2023

DESCRIPTION In 2022 the State of California enacted Senate Bill 9 (SB9) which many thought would be the end of single family housing in the state. This bill, in combination with an update to existing laws on Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs), opened the doors for a whole new type of densification and development across the state.
SB9 allows most single family properties to unequivocally a) be split into two separate parcels and b) for duplexes to exist on a single parcel, resulting in up to four units on what was a single family property. When combined with new ADU laws allowing for one ADU and one Junior ADU (JADU) per parcel, up to eight distinct units can now exist where there used to be just one.

Our goal was to explore how zoning changes could result in denser, more affordable housing in a city such as Los Angeles that is facing skyrocketing housing prices. The culmination of this research is a theoretical reconstructed Los Angeles city block, modeled from existing parcel dimensions, which increases the number of units from 25 to 130.

TYPOLOGY Research, Modeling

ROLE

Research Assistant

CLIENT De Peter Yi

MENTOR

De Peter Yi

Initial Massing Study

Model Breakdown
Each unit is color coded to highlight density:
- Red and orange units exist on all 25 initial parcels.
- Yellow and green units are on 20 parcels.
- Cyan and blue units are on 15 parcels.
- Violet and pink units are on 5 parcels.

The 130 unit block is modeled off the dimensions of the 25 parcel block bound by 96th St to the north, 97th St to the south, Halldale Ave to the east, and Denker Ave to the west in the Gramercy Park neighborhood of Los Angeles.
130 Unit Block Model

Exploded Layer View

Owen Crosby Sims

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