[anemoiac]

Zoning is a scapegoat that allows us to avoid thinking critically about the "fuzzier" complexities behind housing prices. Of course it may be a primary driver of rising prices in some areas, but I think it's simple-minded to assume (and misleading to claim) that zoning is the cause of high prices in general.

[JumpCrisscross]

> it's simple-minded to assume (and misleading to claim) that zoning is the cause of high prices in general

Why? Almost all the evidence points to this. And it makes intuitive sense. Take builder financing costs and add 2 years of reviews (super optimistic!) and you’ve added tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars to the cost per unit.

> it may be a primary driver of rising prices in some areas

Value or population weight your data. Nobody is complaining about a housing shortage in rural New Mexico.

[shlant]

the data shows over and over again that the issue is lack of supply. Zoning is the main roadblock to changing that. I don't know why you would assume people are not thinking critically about this.

[pas]

... strictly speaking it's not about the actual zones or whatnot.

for example standard reference/model/template plans should not require long permitting over and over and over and over again.

(and, yes, of course this is a fundamental problem of the extremely fucked up overly-procedural lawsuit-prone US regulatory regime, zoning, NEPA, etc. see also vetocracy, tragedy of the anticommons.)

[HDThoreaun]

Not having enough housing where people want to live is the cause of high prices in general. Zoning and other overly burdensome land use regulations are the cause of that. It really is that simple. Let people build more housing and prices will decrease.