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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I wish Arlington had passed a law that would trigger missing middle housing once it was allowed in other nearby counties. Arlington is too small to impact housing prices on its own. But if DC, Fairfax and MoCo also made changes, maybe as could get somewhere.[/quote]

It wasn’t meant to lower prices.

[/quote]

Correct, the purpose was to incentivize middle-sized housing in Arlington, not to lower prices in the DC metro[/quote]

That's not how "missing middle" was sold by Arlington Co and the city of Alexandria to the public, but you knew that already. Both municipalities, which are in lock step with each other, pushed the agenda that upzoning was necessary in order to pursue missing middle housing which if allowed would increase the housing supply and eventually lower prices. What occurred, particularly in Alexandria, was the razing of SFHs and the construction of multiple luxury units. You can do research but my immediate reactions are the 4 THs next to the Lexus dealership and the attached 2 THs on Commonwealth across from Duncan library, both in DR and both discussed on DCUM in prior MM threads. We are talking units priced at over $2 million. You are concerned about households that can plop down $2+ million?

As for Houston, they have a huge infrastructure problem due to massive overdevelopment and density, in particular when it comes to water (wastewater/sewage). Hurricane Harvey flooding was a direct consequence of this. This is not a theory. Smart development, whether in the name of missing middle or otherwise, needs infrastructure support (roads, sewage, wastewater, schools, EMTs). Typically in negotiations with municipalities for approving permits, the result is proffers where the developer agrees to pay for infrastructure improvement. However, the infrastructure support massive developments actually need would be cost prohibitive for the developer and the result is that the remaining infrastructure is poor, flooding occurs, roads and schools are overcrowded, etc. This is poor urban planning and rarely gets the attention it deserves. [/quote]

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