Reply to Overriding local zoning to allow multi-family units in suburban neighborhoods in VA

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I am in favor of property owners being allowed to build duplexes, and I find it difficult to think of any policy argument against it.

The following are not policy arguments:

-I don't want to live near a duplex.
-A duplex would be bad for my property value.
-Ew, duplexes.[/quote]

That's because you're not thinking hard enough.

What happens if you're a homeowner in Virginia, and you know a developer sniffing around your place can now put a duplex on your lot? Answer: Your asking price just went way, way up. Why should the developer capture all the additional profits from suddenly being allowed to build duplexes on single-family home lots? If I'm a homeowner, I want some of that windfall money too.

But if the developer has to now pay a lot more for my place, he's going to make that up somewhere. Where do you think that might be? Ding, ding! That's right, he makes it up by charging way more for the units in the duplex he builds, which means housing prices go way up, which defeats the whole purpose of allowing duplexes in the first place.

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