For nearly a century, the areas of urban sprawl where every single-family home has its own yard, garage, and white picket fence represented the peak of life aspiration. Homeownership and the idea of claiming space away from the hustle and bustle of the city core was once considered the ideal lifestyle and the pinnacle of the American Dream. But as time went on, and socio-economic conditions shifted, cities that were once filled with these single-family homes realized that perhaps these zoning regulations were outdated, and new solutions needed to be created to prevent the current housing crisis from growing even more out of control.
While there are many reasons why cities are becoming increasingly more expensive, one of the drivers behind the uptick in pricing has to do with the direct correlation between outdating zoning codes and the lack of available housing that they produce. Given the limited success that zoning changes have demonstrated in providing more housing at rates that are affordable compared to the average income, and given the political and societal backlash they cause, there’s still a big push to update zoning laws to allow people to live in a way that reflects the modern lifestyles of 2020. As younger generations increasingly seek out urban lifestyles where they aren’t burdened by a 30-year mortgage, these laws will need to change in order to meet growing housing demands.
