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Daily Real Estate News | September 25, 2007 | Could Relaxing Zoning Laws Make Housing More Affordable?
"Local zoning is the No. 1 enemy of work force housing," Ron Terwilliger, chairman and CEO of Atlanta-based developer Trammell Crow Residential, said at a talk last week hosted by the Seattle chapter of the Urban Land Institute.

He urged cities to spur development of homes affordable to typical workers by changing rules that distinguish among home types and that separate housing from other uses.

The cost of urban housing leads many workers to live farther from cities, adding to commutes that cost workers money and time, Terwilliger said. This also is becoming an economic-development issue, he said, as companies move to places where their employees can't afford homes.

Terwilliger had more ideas for cities: lower permit fees and parking requirements, streamline permitting, and make it easier to rehabilitate existing buildings. He said companies should look into helping provide housing and the federal government should create a new tax credit for worker housing.

Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer (09/20/07)