Government 'Zoning' is to fault for lack of affordable housing throughout the country. There is not a scarcity of land. There is a manipulated scarcity of useable land. Two properties side by side, identical in every way, can have two different usabilities based on zoning. It is a false choice to have to build low cost housing on the most expensive real estate in the country. We could build an entire new city with new opportunities if it were not for zoning restrictions. Zoning protects the 'Ruling Stakeholders'. Why would a 'Ruling Stakeholder' allow a new commercial strip be created that would increase the supply and decrease the demand of leasable SqFt? Why would a 'Ruling Stakeholders' allow a more inexpensive housing model be created that would deprive them of their monopoly on residential housing stock? Zoning increases real estate values, raises the real estate tax base to pay for government debt and bureaucracy, this coupled with exorbitant bu...
