Opinion: Western Towns Need More Density, Not More Sprawl

Jake Bullinger, in a piece for In These Times, assesses some of the upzoning programs being implemented by many cities in the American West as they struggle to get a handle on the growing housing affordability crisis.

The "regulatory and economic cocktail" that leads developers to "go big and expensive" and prevents multi-unit development near major job centers, writes Bullinger, has led to huge imbalances in housing availability and cost. "In some areas of California, for instance, new jobs have outnumbered new homes 12 to 1." Restrictive single-family zoning policies, the kind that cities across the country are currently reevaluating, have stifled new housing construction and deepened the crisis by preventing mid- and high-density development in some of the most resource-rich parts of cities. 

"In an efficient market, developers would build apartments where land is expensive and rent is high — the developer gets more revenue-generating units per parcel, and renters get the option of smaller, less-expensive housing. But that hasn’t been the case in California: nine of the state’s 12 most expensive cities permitted zero multifamily units between 2013 and 2017." With the need for more housing options growing every day, says Bullinger, "a corner-lot fourplex on every block could go a long way."