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Zoning laws and regulations vary so much, even city to city in the same state. My city has fairly lax zoning laws, and a city 30 miles away has strict zoning laws. Both have some advantages. The city with stricter zoning laws has a far more historic and vibrant downtown, and has grown much quicker. The key difference between the cities was management. My city gets new a new city council and they change the direction of the government every 5 years, which has had terrible results.
I don't think either is better then the other, but depending on what the city and community want to do, there is different directions for city governments. Sometimes cities need to change a zoned area and there is too much red tape to do so, but I've also seen cities (my city) demolish neat historic areas and put up dirty industrial areas, or move in homeless centers. I'm not against homeless centers, but to demolish a 100 year old building in a neighborhood with cafes, lofts, and offices, and putting in a homeless center is a terrible plan. Stricter zoning laws could have prevented that. But sometimes the past has to be let go and allow the new to be built. A city I used to live in redeveloped a warehouse district into lofts, apartments, restaurants, and entertainment, that was a great move to use an abandoned part of the city. It's now an expensive part of the city and has helped increase property values all over the area. Some of the nearby houses had been going to $20-30K, are now selling for $100K+.
In leafy suburbia, the value of your home is closely tied to the quality of the public school system. The school system in affluent towns with engaged, college educated parents tend to be much higher quality than the surrounding school systems. Those towns will do whatever they can with zoning regulations for minimum lot size, minimum frontage, setbacks, and restrictions on multi-dwelling units to keep it that way.
If you want successful mixed income towns with affordable housing options for lower income people, you have to change how public schools work. The people who make the laws are the affluent people who benefit from maintaining the status quo. I don't see it changing.
In leafy suburbia, the value of your home is closely tied to the quality of the public school system. The school system in affluent towns with engaged, college educated parents tend to be much higher quality than the surrounding school systems. Those towns will do whatever they can with zoning regulations for minimum lot size, minimum frontage, setbacks, and restrictions on multi-dwelling units to keep it that way.
If you want successful mixed income towns with affordable housing options for lower income people, you have to change how public schools work. The people who make the laws are the affluent people who benefit from maintaining the status quo. I don't see it changing.
Yes. But they will keep attracting people, most of the top rated public schools in the country are located in just that kind of suburbia, so in effect it does work to a degree.
Yes. But they will keep attracting people, most of the top rated public schools in the country are located in just that kind of suburbia, so in effect it does work to a degree.
If having a 'high rate school' is the top priority then go for it.
If you want successful mixed income towns with affordable housing options for lower income people, you have to change how public schools work. The people who make the laws are the affluent people who benefit from maintaining the status quo. I don't see it changing.
You can do that by, get this, messing with student attendance zones for schools. My local schools constantly rate as some of the best in Florida (school districts by county down here) and a good chunk of that comes from more evenly distributing the poor kids as schools across the district where they're likely to get 'pulled up' in mixed SES-high expectation environment rather than letting them cluster in a few low-performing areas while the rich parts of the district build their own academic fortress.
You have obviously never been to Oregon or at least know nothing about Oregon housing prices. They are greatly inflated due to zoning.
Same for California.
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