2 ms·

There is a big improvement between only getting higher density construction on a lagging basis with demand and not getting higher density construction at all.

• wwweston 4y ago
  I'd believe any number of things might factor into less new construction (NIMBYism, tax incentives, some kinds of building requirements) but that California is especially behind in terms of density zoning? Nah. National rate of single family zoning is about 75%. LA county was, up until recently, around that (which doesn't tell the whole story considering how big and geographically diverse LA county is with cores of high density and more pockets of mid), and that's probably more or less true across the state. You want to see somewhere that's outlier bad that's experiencing a housing crisis? Pick somewhere like Utah, big growth and waaay too few units on the market, prices almost tripling in the last 5 years, you'll see 80-90% single family zoning in Salt Lake County, and that's the most urban place in the whole state. And this is a less relevant topic in California since the state basically ended single family zoning a year ago. You can argue it should have gotten on top of that years ago and there's probably a case for that. But AFAICT no place does. People like single family homes, places try to hold on to that vision until they encounter the problems of popularity and density as they come.