The United States is in a housing affordability crisis.
Home prices and rents have soared in recent years, while many incomes have not kept up.
Millions of Americans struggle to pay rent or qualify for a mortgage.
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Why havent we built enough homes?
Such rules limit how many homes can be built, throttle the housing supply and drive up prices.
As housing costs strain most American households, policymakers are asking if changing these zoning laws could help.
The Housing Affordability Crisis
Housing has become alarmingly expensive in many parts of the country.
In 2021, home purchase prices jumped nearly 20% in one year and rents also surged.
The COVID-19 pandemic housing boom, followed by rising interest rates, pushed homeownership out of reach for many.
Rental costs hit record highs in many cities as well.
A key metric is the share of income people spend on housing.
If a family spends more than 30% of income on housing, they are considered cost-burdened.
One major cause of this affordability crisis is the housing supply shortfall.
Ever since the mid-2000s housing crash, homebuilding in the U.S. did not keep pace with population growth.
Estimates of the national housing deficit range from about 3.8 million units on up.
Zillows research notes that home construction lagged demand for years, creating a chronic shortage of inventory.
When there are more people looking for homes than homes available, prices naturally rise.
Economists across the political spectrum agree that building more housing is essential to make homes affordable again.
While zoning can serve useful purposes in planning communities, overly restrictive residential zoning has severely limited housing growth.
For decades, many cities banned apartments on most residential land.
In many U.S. cities about 75% of residential land is zoned only for single-family houses.
These rules effectively ban affordable housing options like small multifamily buildings in large swaths of communities.
Expert Consensus on Restrictive Zoning
Experts overwhelmingly argue that restrictive zoning drives up housing costs.
All these regulations make it more expensive or sometimes impossible to build affordable types of housing.
This is a notable shift, because zoning was traditionally left to local city or county governments.
California
The nations most populous state has passed a series of pro-housing bills.
Essentially, SB 9 ended single-family exclusivity statewide by legalizing duplexes on most lots.
Over 30 housing-related bills became law in California in 2024 alone.
Washington also eliminated parking space minimums near public transit and encouraged transit-oriented development.
Colorado
In 2023 and 2024, Colorado moved to require higher-density zoning in certain areas.
And developers can proceed with projects during litigation, preventing long delays.
These measures seek to unclog the approval pipeline and get homes built faster.
Arizona also made it easier to convert vacant offices to apartments.
Several northeastern states with historically strict zoning have taken action.
New Jersey has a long-standing fair share law requiring each town to plan for affordable housing.
Even Utah and Rhode Island enacted bills to ease local zoning.
This triplex law grabbed headlines and inspired other cities.
Minneapolis also ended parking minimums and loosened rules on ADUs and small apartment buildings near transit.
Early data indicated Minneapoliss overall housing production accelerated and rent growth slowed relative to other cities.
The City of Yes reforms aim to facilitate 80,000 new homes over the next 15 years in New York.
The focus is on using New Yorks existing developed land more efficiently.
Other Cities
Many other local governments have pursued similar reforms.
Seattle upzoned several neighborhoods and removed parking minimums near transit.
Boston has encouraged more multifamily housing near transit stops through its zoning overlays.
Charlotte, NC eliminated single-family zoning in a 2021 plan, allowing duplexes and triplexes citywide.
Early signs show both progress and challenges.
After Oregons law and Portlands local rezoning, developers started planning more middle-density projects.
Office-to-housing conversions have started contributing significant numbers of units.
Furthermore, there are reports that rent increases have slowed in cities that added supply.
Implementation Challenges
One challenge is that zoning changes dont produce new housing overnight.
It takes time for developers to respond and for projects to pencil out.
Local Pushback and Infrastructure Concerns
Another challenge is local pushback and implementation hurdles.
Some cities have been slow-walking implementation or adding new rules that limit the effect of state mandates.
Infrastructure is another concern.
States like California and Colorado are providing incentives and funding for infrastructure in cities that proactively upzone.
Environmental Considerations
More compact zoning can be better for the environment overall.
Research shows that single-family suburban development produces higher greenhouse gas emissions per person than denser city development.
By reducing sprawl, zoning reform can help cut vehicle miles traveled and preserve open space.
It encourages building housing where infrastructure already exists rather than extending into undeveloped areas.
Future Outlook: Will Zoning Reform Make Housing Affordable?
If more states and cities continue on this path, the cumulative effect could be significant.
One expected impact is an increase in overall housing construction in the next 510 years.
A boost in supply especially in high-demand metro areas should help tame the extreme price growth of recent years.
In some cities we might even see rent decreases if construction outpaces population growth.
Policy Innovation and Federal Involvement
Another likely development is continued policy innovation.
Zoning reform isnt a one-time switch; many jurisdictions will refine their rules further.
One big question is how these reforms will interact with the broader economy.
Affordability also hinges on income growth and programs like housing vouchers or tax credits.
Conclusion
Will these zoning reforms significantly improve housing affordability?
Most experts say yes but over time.
That is a hopeful outlook, suggesting a major easing of the crisis as the housing stock fills in.
They remove artificial limits on housing, allowing the market to be more responsive to what people need.
Early adopters have shown its possible to reform zoning in ways that maintain community character while welcoming more neighbors.
The process is gradual and requires balancing interests, but momentum is building.
