Do Single Family Zoning Ordinances Still Work IV

Hello Everyone:

Today we are going to finish up our series on whether single-family residences are still the all-American ideal.  Over the course of three posts we have looked efforts in Minneapolis, Minnesota and Portland, Oregon to increase density in communities zoned for single-family homes as a way to address the affordable housing crisis.  Portland and Minneapolis passed changes in their zoning ordinances that allowed single family homes to be subdivided in to as many as four individual units.  In Blogger's home state of California, state Senator Scott Wiener's bill SB50, which would increase density near transit lines and job centers has been stalled because of homeowner and neighborhood council push back.  This is not just a California thing, changes in zoning ordinances have been met with homeowner opposition around the country.  Cities have long prioritized single family homeowners over other groups based on the idea density is bad for property values but is it?

Map of residential land designated for single family homes
forum.skyscraperpage.com; 

 Does the age-old practice of giving priority to homeowners over every other group still matter?  Sort of.  Evidence (sciencedirect.com; Oct. 3, 2004; date accessed July 16, 2019) supporting this idea is mixed (sap.mit.edu; Oct. 2005; date accessed July 16, 2019).   University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill city and regional planning professor Andrew Whittemore says that the wrong thing to pay attention to.  He said,

Why is it the job of a government to see that a housing unit accumulates as much value as possible,.... I think the purpose of zoning is to prevent harm.  Planners shouldn't be wealth managers But they effectively are in every municipality in the country (nytimes.com; June 18, 2019; date accessed July 16, 2019).

This is especially true in very suburban communities where the higher share of land is dedicated to housing and a greater share of housing is needed for single family.

Sandy Springs, Georgia
85% of land is dedicated for single family homes
nytimes.com

Changes to zoning ordinances in the cities mapped out in this series of posts is not something new.  "In 1960, Los Angeles had the capacity for about 10 million people [escholarship.org; 2013; date accessed July 16, 2019], according to Greg Morrow at the University of California, Berkeley" (nytimes.com; June 18, 2019).  Thirty years later, Blogger's hometown downzoned to a 3.9 million capacity, a slightly higher today.  The result is Los Angeles' current population is edging close to what the city legally can accommodate; Los Angelenos fill 93 percent of the city's capacity, according to Mr. Morrow's math (Ibid)

Arlington, Texas
89 percent of residential land is designated for single family home
nytimes.com

Greg Morrow told The Times, "Advocates who want to curb single-family zoning,..., are not pushing an idea that has never been tried before.  They're lobbying for a return to the past" (Ibid).

Walking around Blogger's neighborhood, one can see duplexes and small apartment buildings, dating to the 1920s,  next to single family homes from the same vintage.  They are just part of the streetscape and were considered nonconforming (Ibid).  If state Senator Scott Wiener and his supporters have their way, there will be more buildings like them and the distinction will be erased. 

Changing zoning ordinances to allow for more multi-unit housing is one way to ease the housing affordability crisis.  The real trick is to build smarter, set aside the esoteric arguments that are essentially irrelevant, and focus creating meaningful zoning ordinance changes that benefits communities and their residents.