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Comment by mrfusion | Hacker News Reader

At this point wouldn’t it be profitable to buy an old cruise ship and park it offshore and sell living space? Give folks a high speed ferry running back and forth.

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That's what I've wondered. Maybe the solution is to build land out in the ocean like Dubai has done. It would cost billions, but building enough housing to meet demand will already cost billions.

I don't know, building a mile high building in the ocean doesn't sound so crazy anymore for San Fran.

Like this: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/news/Tokyos-mile-high-sky...

The Reber Plan called for filling in San Francisco Bay, and it was seriously considered. In retrospect it was obviously a terrible idea.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reber_Plan

Voters (property owners and landlords) would instantly pressure the city to ban it for being blight.

The resistance to adding more housing is amazingly strong. Can't stop the gravy train!

They can’t stop it in international waters.

Pretty sure the SF Bay isn't classified as international waters...

Cruise ships require a huge amount of maintenance just to keep them from falling apart, including occasional dry dock service where everyone has to get off for months. Sewage can't be discharged until you're very far offshore. Resupply at sea is challenging. High speed ferries can't run during rough conditions (which are common in the open Pacific Ocean).

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