The next big fight over housing could happen, literally, in your back yard
The Future Of American Cities May Be In Our Backyards
Fast Company and the Washington Post talk about Accessory Dwelling Units-- their history, why they are an increasingly popular strategy to combat rising home prices and respond to demographic changes, and why it can be so hard to build them.
“Many restrictions against these units emerged from zoning that tried to keep affluent, low-density neighborhoods that way. Most of the policies that outlaw ADUs around the country date back to the 1950s and ‘60s, a time when suburbia was booming, and many Americans prized the notion of a single-family home in carefully orchestrated semi-isolation from the city center. In response, many areas introduced low-density zoning designed to preserve suburbia’s ratio of house-to-yard by restricting homeowners from further developing their land.”