The Myth of Zoning and Property Value

Zoning has often excluded the creation of dense apartment buildings from many neighborhoods, but apartment buildings often increase the value of the neighboring land rather than decreasing it:

"The new residents of the apartment building may sometimes be of lower economic status, on average, than the individual owner of the home that was replaced, but collectively, the economic productivity of the land (in the form of rental income and/or property taxes) has dramatically increased. Homeowners may object to the presence of the new building, or possibly the presence of its residents, but they are nonetheless the beneficiaries of the increased land values should they decide to sell."