Re:The Impact of Zoning on Housing Affordability (2002)
by AnthonyMouse on Wednesday February 28, 2018 @01:21AM
(#16481094)
The difficulty is in getting people to understand this.
For example, the entire point of doing this is to get housing costs down, and people hear that and think it will cause their property values to go down.
But those are actually two different things.
Housing costs are per square foot. They go down when there is a bunch of new housing because of supply and demand.
Property values include the value of the land. If you zone for high density, it causes the land to be worth significantly more because people will pay you a million dollars for it so they can bulldoze your house and build a tower there.
For example, the entire point of doing this is to get housing costs down, and people hear that and think it will cause their property values to go down.
But those are actually two different things.
Housing costs are per square foot. They go down when there is a bunch of new housing because of supply and demand.
Property values include the value of the land. If you zone for high density, it causes the land to be worth significantly more because people will pay you a million dollars for it so they can bulldoze your house and build a tower there.