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You DO know that property owners historically have rights, too?
And, that detached homes are greatly desired by the majority of buyers?
You have rights to your own property, but those rights end at your property lines. If people want detached homes, they can buy them. They don't have to force their neighbors to do the same.
It's critical to understand how zoning works. Zoning codes are generally "pyramidal," whereby anything allowed in a more restrictive zone is also allowed in a less restrictive zone. So "single family zoning" and "single family housing" are two entirely different things. Raleigh's UDO is typical; it allows "single-unit living" in even its Downtown zoning district. If you wanted to build a house and four yards on Fayetteville Street Mall, you can have at it. But if I wanted to build two units with a common wall in the vast swaths of Raleigh zoned R-4, I can't.
While people may prefer detached houses in the abstract, life choices always involve trade-offs. NAR asks an interestingly designed question in its "Community and Transportation Preference Survey." They posit a choice between: (Community A) Own or rent an apartment or townhouse, and you have an easy walk to shops and restaurants and have a shorter commute to work.
(Community B) Own or rent a detached, single-family house, and you have to drive to shops and restaurants and have a longer commute to work.
In both the 2017 and 2020 iterations of the survey, about half of respondents chose each.
More pertinent to home buyers' preferences, the 2017 survey report found that 21% of Americans would rather live in a more walkable place than where they currently live, twice the 10% who want a more drivable community.
(Also, re: Apple campus, from experience in NoVA, the prices begin rising long before hiring begins because of speculation.)
^ Yes, it's just across the Little Dr. from the back of Parkside Elem. It's super close to Parkside shopping center. So the Louis Stephen Rd extension project has to be done otherwise the rush hour traffic will be awful in the future.
You have rights to your own property, but those rights end at your property lines. If people want detached homes, they can buy them. They don't have to force their neighbors to do the same.
It's critical to understand how zoning works. Zoning codes are generally "pyramidal," whereby anything allowed in a more restrictive zone is also allowed in a less restrictive zone. So "single family zoning" and "single family housing" are two entirely different things. Raleigh's UDO is typical; it allows "single-unit living" in even its Downtown zoning district. If you wanted to build a house and four yards on Fayetteville Street Mall, you can have at it. But if I wanted to build two units with a common wall in the vast swaths of Raleigh zoned R-4, I can't.
While people may prefer detached houses in the abstract, life choices always involve trade-offs. NAR asks an interestingly designed question in its "Community and Transportation Preference Survey." They posit a choice between: (Community A) Own or rent an apartment or townhouse, and you have an easy walk to shops and restaurants and have a shorter commute to work.
(Community B) Own or rent a detached, single-family house, and you have to drive to shops and restaurants and have a longer commute to work.
In both the 2017 and 2020 iterations of the survey, about half of respondents chose each.
More pertinent to home buyers' preferences, the 2017 survey report found that 21% of Americans would rather live in a more walkable place than where they currently live, twice the 10% who want a more drivable community.
(Also, re: Apple campus, from experience in NoVA, the prices begin rising long before hiring begins because of speculation.)
So, if I buy in a detached home neighorhood, where everyone agrees at purchase to only own detached homes, that agreement should be voided because of other country practices?
I don't really buy that.
Covenants, as agreements between neighbors, limit activity by owners in more detail than zoning.
And, the limitation of the NAR false dilemma survey? It avoids a choice to own a detached, single-family home with an easy walk to shops and restaurants, and a short commute; a choice which would very possibly be superior to many respondents to that survey.
I am a member of NAR, of course. But, I don't genuflect when I see their data and I seldom quote them.
^I've never been to Silicon Valley but this is the most SV thing I can imagine---Apple, Cisco, NetApp in a row and all in biking distance.
I would like a spinoff of the excellent HBO show "Silicon Valley" please
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