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Comment by endisneigh | Hacker News Reader

Zone all housing in the United States such that two and three families can be built anywhere a single family house stands and all housing problems will be resolved within a decade.

It's that simple.

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Your first problem is that two and three families cost more per square foot to build than single family detached and they sell at a discount to single family detached. As you go up the chain, it gets even more expensive per square foot. Anything other than single family only makes sense when land gets really expensive, and/or when it is subsidized.

Your second problem is democracy.

Is a duplex actually more expensive tho?

Randomly just Google'd and found this link suggesting the opposite:

https://www.turnerandsonhomes.com/blog/cost-to-build-is-a-2-...

As for your second point, that's true. Though, if voting were mandatory I doubt it'd be difficult to pass.

There's something darkly hilarious about the concept of a democracy forcing people to vote.

In desireable locations the land cost is often more than the construction cost, so splitting that land cost across multiple dwellings makes them more affordable. Sure the cost per sq ft is higher when you are putting in three dwellings under one roof than for a McMansion, but you are getting three dwellings that in aggregate should be worth more than one McMansion.

That was the "Anything other than single family only makes sense when land gets really expensive" part.

Are there cities with land that isn't expensive?

In most cities in the US, land costs are not going to be a large part of the costs of building new construction. Materials and labor will be most of it.

I highly doubt it would be that easy. Do people want multifamily dwellings in these rich areas with this problem? It seems many people making that sort of money want single family homes that can own.

Yeah and they still can - no problem

Or simpler: remove all zoning restrictions.

that would also do it, but it's politically more difficult

Seriously. Here in Long Beach we have honest-to-god oil derricks right in the middle of our neighborhoods and even on some school campuses. This is despite some of the most restrictive zoning laws one can imagine.

If we're not stopping the heaviest of heavy industry from setting up shop right nextdoor then it's pretty obvious that zoning is nothing more than regressive rent seeking from property investors.

Do they let you start a new oil rig these days or are all those somehow grandfathered in?

..or quit importing so many people.

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