Reply to upzoning: what will it really change?

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Reply to "upzoning: what will it really change?"

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[quote=Anonymous]1. Upzoning is the natural course of growth in urban and semiurban areas. Once it’s no longer practical to build out — because it takes people too far away from infrastructure, jobs, and amenities — you build up. Fighting upzoning is silly.

2. Whatever is built as a result of upzoning will usually be more expensive than whatever end-of-life structure it replaces on a per-unit basis. That’s what happens when there’s investment. You get nicer stuff that costs more. We should embrace that rather than fighting it. From a builder’s standpoint, there’s also a decision about whether to build multifamily or single family. Single family may yield higher margins even when it’s not the best use of the land.

3. No. 2 won’t happen on a large scale without structural reform in the housing market. Builders make more money with less risk when there’s a shortage. They’re very sensitive to price and stop building in a given area at the first sign prices are flattening. That’s not to say they don’t misread the market sometimes, but usually when they misread the market they create a shortage, not a surplus. Sitting on underutilized land must be made more expensive through taxes and fees. You never hear the urbanists talk about this one because they’re part of an astroturf movement and this would obviously cut into developers’ profits.

4. We’ll never fix the housing market because the developers and homeowners who hold influence over elected officials both profit from shortage. [/quote]

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