Caveat that the text of the laws is often disconnected from what they are there for. For instance I've seen many local laws explained as "preserving local heri

Caveat that the text of the laws is often disconnected from what they are there for. For instance I've seen many local laws explained as "preserving local heritage and historic places" when their actual intended effect is to block affordable housing. I assume you also see specific building rules that increase the building cost for seemingly no reason, when in practice it helps ruling out low income people moving in. That's from the top of my head, but I'd expect most laws going further that "don't kill people" to be at least half motivated by something else that the stated intent.