Residential reversion is the term used to describe the tendancy for live/work and work/live spaces to be used less and less for work purposes and over time to become primarily residences. Some say this trend is inevitable, and some so-called live/work spaces are never intended as anything more than apartments with mezzanines. To minimize reversion in legitimate live/work spaces we suggest the following:

At its best, true live/work is an affordable land use and building strategy. By not having to rent or own separate places for living and working, much is saved in expenses per month. It is estimated that the average automobile costs $5,000 per year to own, maintain, fuel, insure, etc. Therefore if a couple, for example, can do without one car, they are saving roughly $500 per month. Therefore, the simple fact of not commuting and not maintaining a separate home and workplace is an important "land use subsidy" inherent in live/work, making it more affordable.

As stated elsewhere, the occupation of derelict commercial buildings for live/work began as an affordable strategy for artists and others on the margins of society. As live/work has moved into the mainstream and become an accepted real estate "product" in the form of lifestyle lofts, home office, etc., prices for such units have gone up, often astronomically, and the likelihood of finding an affordable live/work space has decreased. It is a relative term. Many San Francisco lofts are being occupied by workers in the Silicon Valley, for whom $350,000 for a spacious lifestyle loft is a bargain compared to a $750,000 bungalow in Silicon Valley. Never mind the hour-plus commute and the fact that the units are not being worked in by many owners-- a difficult thing to enforce, at best.

There are still low and moderate-income artists whose presence in a city adds vitality to its cultural life. In the face of many societal trends, their tenure in inexpensive live/work spaces is often limited at best without intervention of non-profit developers or other agencies of subsidy. Gentrification of loft districts can be a real problem for these people, and most are not equipped to pay condominium prices. True live/work projects, where the live portion is clearly accessory to the work component, do not have to provide the parking and open space typically required by residential uses. Perhaps deed restrictions should be required to ensure that the units remain truly live/work.