Author: Luís M.A Bettencourt

Publisher:

Published: 2023

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13:

U.S. cities have a single-family housing problem, perpetuated by the rules of city-making: zoning codes. The issue is twofold. First, the banning of more affordable housing, like apartments, townhomes, duplexes, and accessory dwelling units or ADUs, - such as apartments over garages - in areas where they are needed most, severely limits housing choice, supply, and wealthbuilding. Second, zoning fails to protect these same housing types - the “missing middle” - in areas close to amenities like transit, often replaced by luxury housing and commercial uses.In sum, zoning is either prohibiting or failing to protect housing types that are intrinsically affordable.Single-family zoning in particular exacerbates a host of contemporary urban problems, from climate change, to racial segregation, to the lack of affordable housing. For big cities like Chicago, single-family-only zones are obstructing equitable access to resources such as transit, constraining density in well-serviced locations, and effectively blocking the support of walkable, diverse neighborhoods. Outdated codes are untenable, unsustainable, and inequitable - problems long recognized but still mostly unmitigated. So what should be done? People around the country are grappling with the fallout of these outdated zoning codes, the harm they inflict, and the many challenges encountered in trying to rectify past legacies of exclusion. In May of 2022, the Kreisman Initiative for Housing Law and Policy brought together experts from Chicago and around the country in city government, housing organizations, design, and academia to address such questions such as:• Should single-family zoning in cities be abolished? Are there some areas where the “American Dream” should still be protected?• Should older, multi-family housing be permanently protected in transit-served areas? If so, by what mechanism?• How should we address the complication that densifying single-family zones, many of which lack transit options, will add more cars and traffic to a neighborhood?• Should some single-family housing be preserved because of its historic quality? Are neighbors wrong to object to the potential of out-of-character multi-family housing being developed next door?While zoning reform will not solve the affordable housing crisis or racial segregation, it is a key strategy for tackling these inter-related problems. The speakers highlighted the importance of preserving existing housing stock, taking advantage of current flexibility in the zoning code, and preventing deconversions of specifically two- to four-flat buildings. National and local data on the current state of zoning can be a powerful tool to advocate for more equitable zoning and additional housing development.The uploaded document is a transcript of the event, meant to provide a record of this critical discussion, and stimulate further action aimed at zoning reform.