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To ease the housing crunch, more places end single-family zoning

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Re: To ease the housing crunch, more places end single-family zoning

#41

Post by bdw5204 »

dragonwriter wrote: post #16
c3534l wrote: post #4

I hate how that's phrased. No one is ending single-family housing. They're legalizing multi-resident housing.

> I hate how that's phrased. No one is ending single-family housing. That would be a fair complaint, if the word “housing” had been used in place of “zoning”. Single-family zoning is a legal restriction that allows only single-family housing. Ending it is not the same as ending single-family housing . If you are going to complain about phrasing, you should complain about the actual phrasing.

As far as an uninformed reader is concerned (think either the typical cable news watcher or the typical apolitical person), "ending single-family zoning" reads as "banning new single-family housing". Most voters, let alone most people, are every bit as clueless about public policy details as the people who held up "keep the government out of my Medicare" signs at the protests against Obamacare so you need to be really careful to explain what the existing policy is and how it is being changed.

Re: To ease the housing crunch, more places end single-family zoning

#42

Post by eapressoandcats »

xyzelement wrote: post #24

I kinda get it and kinda hate it. I am a pretty responsible dude but nothing has made me as invested in my community, surroundings, etc as owning a home. I always loved the US but once we bought the house I really understood it on the next level. Apartments are great for single people and retirees. Families should have a house with a back yard and a drive way. It's our dream.

Worth noting is that single family zoning in many places also prevents people from having houses as well. Small starter homes are basically illegal in many suburbs due to high minimum lot sizes and low FAR rating. I think that is frankly an issue that is underrated by most urbanists.

Re: To ease the housing crunch, more places end single-family zoning

#43

Post by TheHypnotist »

osigurdson wrote: post #35

I used to think that if average income cannot afford the average home, the market must necessarily correct. I’m wrong about this obviously but I still cannot understand why. I understand that wealthier people have vacation homes, but the only reason for a wealthy person to purchase an additional non-vacation home is to rent it out to someone less wealthy. Since the less wealthy person couldn’t cover the mortgage to b…

Borrowing turned your initial thought on it's head.

Re: To ease the housing crunch, more places end single-family zoning

#44

Post by curun1r »

jmathai wrote: post #8

Feels like it will perpetuate the trend of young adults not being able to afford to purchase a home. Duplexes and more apartments mean more renters. No matter your view on home ownership, there’s a lot to be said of the ability to stabilize your budget’s largest line item via fixed rate mortgages. This helps but is just a band aid.

Why is home ownership important? It’s a serious question. It’s currently important within the context of houses as a form of appreciating wealth that can be passed on to future generations, but a big part of the reason we have a housing crisis is due to conflating housing and investment.

We need to step back from the notion that houses should be significant stores of wealth and concentrate fully on creating enough housing so that everyone can comfortably afford a roof over their head. Using the scarcity of housing to build wealth is just short-sighted and will always lead housing shortages because the housing value above construction cost is only maintained by way of scarcity. If there’s enough housing for everybody, which should be our goal, home values will go down and the importance of owning a house goes away.

Re: To ease the housing crunch, more places end single-family zoning

#45

Post by dinkumthinkum »

xyzelement wrote: post #24

I kinda get it and kinda hate it. I am a pretty responsible dude but nothing has made me as invested in my community, surroundings, etc as owning a home. I always loved the US but once we bought the house I really understood it on the next level. Apartments are great for single people and retirees. Families should have a house with a back yard and a drive way. It's our dream.

You might find many retirees like own their own home as well.

Re: To ease the housing crunch, more places end single-family zoning

#46

Post by anon291 »

xyzelement wrote: post #24

I kinda get it and kinda hate it. I am a pretty responsible dude but nothing has made me as invested in my community, surroundings, etc as owning a home. I always loved the US but once we bought the house I really understood it on the next level. Apartments are great for single people and retirees. Families should have a house with a back yard and a drive way. It's our dream.

You can own an apartment or own a smaller home ...

Re: To ease the housing crunch, more places end single-family zoning

#47

Post by jrajav »

jmathai wrote: post #8

Feels like it will perpetuate the trend of young adults not being able to afford to purchase a home. Duplexes and more apartments mean more renters. No matter your view on home ownership, there’s a lot to be said of the ability to stabilize your budget’s largest line item via fixed rate mortgages. This helps but is just a band aid.

More supply of housing will drive the price of housing down, not up.

Re: To ease the housing crunch, more places end single-family zoning

#48

Post by lotsoweiners »

ericd wrote: post #12
imglorp wrote: post #7

It needs to be affordable as well as multi unit. There is a massive influx in many burbs of "luxury apartments" with rents $2500+ and I'm not talking downtown NYC. That's more than most mortgages.

Nope, just needs to be more building. New luxury apartments will make the old stock cheaper. The fight over the number of affordable units in every single new development slows things down and exacerbates the affordability problem. Remove as many of the barriers to development as possible, and the problem will be solved.

Not if the developers realize that they should tear down the old apartment and build a new one with “luxury” rents.

Re: To ease the housing crunch, more places end single-family zoning

#49

Post by Sebguer »

ericd wrote: post #12
imglorp wrote: post #7

It needs to be affordable as well as multi unit. There is a massive influx in many burbs of "luxury apartments" with rents $2500+ and I'm not talking downtown NYC. That's more than most mortgages.

Nope, just needs to be more building. New luxury apartments will make the old stock cheaper. The fight over the number of affordable units in every single new development slows things down and exacerbates the affordability problem. Remove as many of the barriers to development as possible, and the problem will be solved.

This ignores the possibility of housing stock consolidating, and price-fixing, which can keep rents artificially inflated by just keeping capacity off the markets. Example: https://www.propublica.org/article/yieldstar-rent-increase-r...

Re: To ease the housing crunch, more places end single-family zoning

#50

Post by dinkumthinkum »

tomtheelder wrote: post #30
xyzelement wrote: post #24

I kinda get it and kinda hate it. I am a pretty responsible dude but nothing has made me as invested in my community, surroundings, etc as owning a home. I always loved the US but once we bought the house I really understood it on the next level. Apartments are great for single people and retirees. Families should have a house with a back yard and a drive way. It's our dream.

With all due respect that’s _your_ dream. I hated growing up in a house with a back yard and a driveway. I’m not sure I would have wanted to grow up in downtown Manhattan, but an apartment in a small city would have been infinitely better.

Well, you are an extreme outlier. There are all kinds of people on this world but this very uncommon. Most people in apartment complexes are trying to get into their own home or hole that they can.
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