The Housing Bias : Rethinking Land Use Laws for a Diverse New America

Arguing that our laws are skewed to benefit entrenched homeowners, at the expense of newcomers and lower-income households, this book advocates both for libertarian ideals and for social justice - an unusual and revealing combination. As 300 million Americans squeeze into our country, and as single-person households outnumber parents with children, it's time to rethink our land use laws that favor the single-family house. This provocative book visits sites of recent controversies - from an immigration dispute in a Virginia suburb, to eminent domain in New York City, to illegal apartments in the backyards of California. Boudreaux explores how we could scrap the old housing bias in favor of affluent homeowners, and in its place harness the free market to provide for a greater variety of residences - apartments, townhouses, and mobile homes - for the twenty-first century Front Matter....Pages i-ix Introduction: The Housing Bias: The Last Privilege of Affluent Americans....Pages 1-10 The Third Battle of Manassas....Pages 11-59 Public Uses and Abuses: Eminent Domain in and around the Empire State....Pages 61-102 Side Trip: Mount Laurel and the Fair Share....Pages 103-115 Guarding the Rural Myth in Michigan....Pages 117-145 Filling in the World’s Biggest Suburb: Los Angeles....Pages 147-176 Conclusion: Overcoming the Housing Bias for Twenty-First-Century America....Pages 177-199 Back Matter....Pages 201-216