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View Poll Results: Would you support a reduction in the severity of zoning laws?
Yes, we need more housing 20 41.67%
No, keep the laws the way they are 28 58.33%
Voters: 48. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 11-08-2016, 05:13 AM
 
Location: Tucson/Nogales
23,068 posts, read 28,783,425 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mircea View Post
Zoning does not cause housing prices to skyrocket, but demand for housing does.
Scrap the powerful, self-serving Coastal Commission in California, and you'd suddenly see a forest of cranes from San Francisco all the way to the Mexican border, building 1000's and 1000's of mid rise and high rise apartment/condo buildings. And you might even have to exile the anti-development, anti-density Nimby's from the coastal cities as well. Exile them to Catalina Island!

Santa Monica, which hasn't allowed a high rise to be built there since 1970, threw a big hissy fit when a developer proposed the first high rise condo there (only 21 stories) a couple years ago!

Archaically, 72% of Los Angeles is still zoned for signal family housing! And then you wonder!
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Old 11-08-2016, 06:12 AM
 
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In Washington DC, the primacy of the Washington Monument as the defining structure on the city's skyline has long been protected. The monument itself is 555 feet high, but it's built at one of the lowest points in the city, meaning that an effective building limit of 13 stories exists across most of downtown. This has resulted in a low and surprisingly open and sunny urban environment. Developers whine, but the building limit fortunately lives on.
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Old 11-08-2016, 06:20 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Larry Caldwell View Post
Unfortunately, unplanned urban development is both disruptive and dangerous. That's why states with no history of land use planning are getting into it. It may take a generation for the damage to hit, but the problems are expensive and intractable.
It's important not to fall into the trap of making a false dichotomy between current, arguably overzealous in some places, zoning laws, and total lack of planning. Each regulation needs to be considered in its own merit - is it really necessary to preserve order,life, and limb?

More generally, just because anarchy results in chaos, does not mean every law on the books is a good one.
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Old 11-08-2016, 06:39 AM
 
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It isn't like developers have the best short- or long-term interests of the community in mind. What they have in mind is making the most profit that they can in the shortest possible period of time. That energy can often be harnessed into service of the public good, but it takes strong laws and firm administration.
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Old 11-08-2016, 07:04 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pub-911 View Post
It isn't like developers have the best short- or long-term interests of the community in mind. What they have in mind is making the most profit that they can in the shortest possible period of time. That energy can often be harnessed into service of the public good, but it takes strong laws and firm administration.
The same can be said of any sector of the modern capitalistic complex. Why use it as an argument to regulate construction but not also to regulate the food industry, the fossil fuel industry, the mass media, etc.?
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Old 11-08-2016, 07:07 AM
 
Location: plano
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Developers care about their reputation where I live. If they do something unacceptable they pay for it in no future. The gov planners are not the brightest bulbs and are driven by maintaining status quu. They take care of those who have not the people. Nothing really different at local than federal gov level, just too many people we pay generating regs and decisions to perpetuate the wealthy and their own jobs not do the right thing if they were smart enough to know it. The market is wiser and evolves much faster than people.
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Old 11-08-2016, 07:17 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by davebarnes View Post
Would you support a reduction in the severity of zoning laws?
would you support a reduction in zoning laws?

No.
Because I think the questions are poorly worded.
Good point. I would add that zoning isn't the only factor driving up housing prices. In much of NY land is prohibitively to develop. Builders have to put up fees for this, that, "mitigation" causes, "preservation" causes. None of which have anything to do with building a community.

That said, in many established neighborhoods in NY, especially in well-to-do counties downstate, zoning is used to keep our "undersirables", "deplorables", "diversivals".

Let a town create residential, commercial and industrial (negligent in NY) zones. Then let homebuilders, shopping mall developers, companies build what they want because what they want is based on what their customers will buy.
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Old 11-08-2016, 08:23 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Troyfan View Post
Good point. I would add that zoning isn't the only factor driving up housing prices. In much of NY land is prohibitively to develop. Builders have to put up fees for this, that, "mitigation" causes, "preservation" causes. None of which have anything to do with building a community.

That said, in many established neighborhoods in NY, especially in well-to-do counties downstate, zoning is used to keep our "undersirables", "deplorables", "diversivals".

Let a town create residential, commercial and industrial (negligent in NY) zones. Then let homebuilders, shopping mall developers, companies build what they want because what they want is based on what their customers will buy.

The solution to NIMBYism is to require NIMBYs to pay fees for "mitigation" of the excessive housing costs they cause.
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Old 11-08-2016, 09:43 AM
 
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Or the anti-NIMBY's could simply work extra jobs until they could afford to move in where the NIMBY's already are.
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Old 11-08-2016, 09:51 AM
 
1,979 posts, read 1,434,646 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Larry Caldwell View Post
I ran up the Portland zoning maps and had no trouble finding neighborhoods dominated by single family homes that are zoned R2 (Multi-Family). I found whole quarter sections with no apartment complexes. If they were so eager to do it, there's nothing stopping them.
http://bikeportland.org/wp-content/u...amily-map1.png

And yes there are places they can do it. First you have to get the current homeowners to sell. Because the zoning limits which houses you can go after it takes longer. Developers would love to put up more units in hot housing market there are obviously to many barriers to entry.
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