Watch The World Build
I'm Sean Canning, principal architect at Ten Seventy Architecture in San Diego. Each episode answers a question homeowners bring to me about ADUs, permits, and California housing law, with the code sections and numbers behind the answer.
Why Are New Apartments in San Diego Being Built Without Parking?
Why the city dropped parking requirements near transit, where residents will park, and how to plan parking on your own lot.
All Episodes
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Why Are New Apartments in San Diego Being Built Without Parking?
Why the city dropped parking requirements near transit, where residents will park, and how to plan parking on your own lot.
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What California's New Housing Laws Mean for Your San Diego Neighborhood
Homeowners and developers, infrastructure, privacy, parking and renting an ADU under the new state laws.
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Two Detached ADUs Under California's New Housing Laws
What California's new laws change for two detached ADUs, fees, sidewalks, lot splits and permit deadlines, and whether to wait.
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Can I Build a Home in Phases in San Diego?
How building in phases works, what you can defer, what has to be done before move-in, and planning for future additions.
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Can an Alley-Facing ADU Become Your Custom Home in San Diego?
How an alley-facing ADU can become your custom home: savings, financing, lot size, privacy and what to look for when buying.
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How a San Diego Architect's Week Splits Between Design and Everything Else
How much of an architect's job is design, plus style, reading floor plans, couples who disagree, interior designers and permitting time.
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How San Diego Permitting Can Stall a Housing Project Without a Denial
Fees, shifting requirements, trash enclosures, sidewalks and slow replies, and how to reduce the risk before you design.
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Using San Diego's ADU Bonus Program on a Small Project
Whether the ADU Bonus Program works for a small project: permit review budgets, neighborhood fit, the August 2025 changes and common delays.
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Building an ADU in San Diego After Your Zone Lost the Bonus Program
Which single-family zones lost ADU bonus access, what you can still build there, and whether an ADU pays for itself as a rental.
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What San Diego's ADU Bonus Program Fee Costs
When the fee applies, whether it varies by neighborhood or unit size, and whether it can price a project out.
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When San Diego Asks for a Land Dedication With Your Building Permit
When the city can ask for part of your lot, how to find out how much, preliminary reviews, and leaving room for it in your design.
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How Much Does a Detached ADU Cost in San Diego?
Common homeowner questions: detached ADU costs, remodel or rebuild, warm modern design, kitchen budgets and custom homes.
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Building Two ADUs on a San Diego Lot
Two ADUs on one lot, ADUs on apartment buildings, garage conversions, and how to check what your lot allows.
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A Walk Through San Diego's ADU Code
How many ADUs you can build, size and setbacks, sprinklers, parking, the bonus program, and selling an ADU separately.
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Planning a Pocket Community on Your San Diego Lot
Whether you need the bonus program, street character, parking, privacy, walking routes and shared amenities.
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How Many ADUs Can I Build on My San Diego Lot in 2026?
Water meters, duplexes and apartment buildings, garage conversions, and how the bonus program affects your unit count.
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How Pocket Communities Fit Several Homes on One San Diego Lot
Built North Park and Logan Heights projects, a larger South Park proposal, and keeping backyard privacy and street character.
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The Critical Project Thresholds That Can Make a Small San Diego Project Expensive
The thresholds that make small projects costly: sidewalk work, fire sprinklers, solar, water meters, R-2 or R-3, and coastal permits.
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Would a 50-Year Mortgage Make a San Diego Home More Affordable?
How a proposed 50-year mortgage compares with 15- and 30-year loans, what it could mean for a rental, and what to weigh before you finance.
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Using an ADU for Multigenerational Living in San Diego
How an ADU can house several generations: how many units fit, privacy from the main house, and spaces that change over time.
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Why Small San Diego Building Projects Get So Expensive
Why small projects get expensive: permit delays, zoning, environmental review, and how to keep your project simple.
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What SB79 Changes for San Diego Homeowners Near Transit
Building height, how it compares with the ADU Bonus Program, parking, neighborhood fit and timing.
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Parking Rules for New San Diego Homes in September 2025
When parking is required, how it competes with bedrooms, whether underground parking fits a small lot, and alley and tandem layouts.
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San Diego EMRAs and What Their Insurance Can Cost
What an EMRA is, what its insurance can cost, what counts as an encroachment, and what to check before you sign one.
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What Complete Communities Allowed in San Diego in August 2025
How much Complete Communities allowed in August 2025: building height, added costs, parking, neighbor input and small lots.
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Missing Middle Housing in San Diego as of July 2025
How missing middle housing fits several homes on one lot: attached or detached ADUs, parking on narrow lots and live-work options.
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What Renderings Can Show You Before Your San Diego Home Is Built
What renderings and 3D models can show before a home is built, where AI helps and falls short, and whether it will replace the architect.
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How Long Does a Building Permit Take in San Diego?
How long a permit takes, what happens after you submit, fees, coastal permits, and whether to handle the permit yourself.
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How Ten Seventy Architecture Got Started in San Diego
How the studio started: choosing San Diego, construction experience, architecture school, and growing the team.
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The Timeline to Design and Build a San Diego ADU in 2025
The ADU process from first sketch to permit, how much say you have, design-build or design-bid-build, and architect fees.
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What San Diego's Proposed ADU Rules Meant for Projects in May 2025
What the May 2025 ADU proposal would have meant for two detached ADUs, added costs, unit counts and the bonus program, plus pre-approved plans.
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Buying a First Home in San Diego in 2025
What a starter budget buys, down payments, buying with a partner or roommates, adding an ADU, and when a fixer-upper fits.
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Should I Delay My San Diego Construction Project Because of the 2025 Tariffs?
Whether to wait out the 2025 tariffs, plus simpler floor plans, outdoor space, what Prince House cost, and where to spend on windows and finishes.
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Where ADUs Fit Into San Diego's Housing Crisis in March 2025
How ADUs add homes to older neighborhoods, building for family instead of rent, the finances, and why permits take time.