Volume 18, Issue 4
2007

 

Many studies have demonstrated that zoning by local governments can have adverse effects on housing production and, consequently, on housing affordability. Most of these studies, however, use coarse measures of zoning regulations and thus provide little information about the nature and patterns of zoning itself. As a result, these studies offer little information that is useful in identifying when and where regulatory barriers exist.

 

This article offers a detailed analysis of zoning patterns and housing market performance at the jurisdictional level in three metropolitan areas and provides further evidence that zoning can serve as a barrier to the construction of high-density, multifamily housing. The analysis also demonstrates that such disaggregated information can be used to identify and perhaps address regulatory barriers to affordability.

 

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