3 ms·

Are they opening up new land for development? If not, how does this have any practical effect?

• hinkley 6y ago
  Removal of single family zoning and the enforcement of urban growth boundaries are usually characterized as being complementary techniques, rather than counterproductive.
  • chmod600 6y ago
    But what does it actually change? The single-family houses are already there.
    • hinkley 6y ago
      One interpretation is that it's not actually doing anything at all, which I agree is stupid/frustrating/nonsensical/favorite adjective. The other interpretation is that it is a blanket zoning change of all existing single family lots. Which creates a whole set of emotions for a different group of people but is no longer, and least to me, nonsensical. Or there's a subtler middle play, where one can no longer subdivide a lot into two single family lots. You can build single family houses on multi-use plots (I live in one, elsewhere), but you can't stop someone from knocking it right down again and putting up a denser structure.