I don't think that's a particularly representative example. Zoning is determined locally in the U.S., and taking the most extreme locality doesn't really shed l

I don't think that's a particularly representative example. Zoning is determined locally in the U.S., and taking the most extreme locality doesn't really shed light on what's going on in the country as a whole, and isn't a useful avenue to approach this problem. Try instead to work with averages and representative localities. The U.S., like any area, has urban, suburban, and rural areas, with a continuous gradient in between. No point in discussing rural or near-rural areas when complaining about zoning, since the real issue is that people in urban areas need access to jobs. People living on the horse farms or rural ranches are not the problem here, and liberalizing zoning in Asheville isn't going to make housing more affordable in Austin or San Francisco, which is where the pain of restrictive zoning is felt.