Proponents of zoning often try to sell the idea of community planning as a concept that benefits everyone. However a recent article by Forbes.com writer Matt Woolsey demonstrates that average people stand to lose when local governments embrace more restrictive practices.
According to Woolsey, Texas shows the strongest economic growth for suburban areas. More importantly "as a result, these areas have some of the most affordable homes in the nation since there is plenty of supply to meet demand." This means that the average family will have less problems purchasing for themselves a piece of the American dream.
Conversely metropolitan Boston has some of the highest housing costs in the United States. Woolsey cites a Brooking Institute study that shows that communities with growth exclusion policies tend to have sharply higher housing costs. This forces those looking for affordable housing to seek out ever more remote areas, creating more of the very sprawl that planners wanted to avoid.
This hits close to home because Mineral County has the potential to catch some of metropolitan D. C.'s growth. If economic development comes, we need growth that will ensure that the children of families that have been here for sometimes hundreds of years will have the opportunity to stay home. Zoning helps to cement a status quo from which only the most elite will benefit. If the county develops and also zones while continuing to drive away manufacturing jobs, this means that it will grow into a more and more exclusive area for upper middle class and rich professionals.
Growth ought to benefit as many of Mineral County's families as possible. This study makes clear that zoning produces higher housing costs by restricting the choice available to buyers. Mineral County families for the most part pay too high a cost already. Zoning under any name will lessen the chance for the average person to get a job while forcing up the cost of living because it pares down choices and opportunities.
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