H I E R

Harvard Institute of Economic Research

Discussion Paper Number 1948

The Impact of Zoning on

Housing Affordability

by

Edward L. Glaeser and Joseph Gyourko

March 2002

Harvard University

Cambridge, Massachusetts

This paper can be downloaded without charge from the:

http://post.economics.harvard.edu/hier/2002papers/2002list.html

The Impact of Zoning

on Housing Affordability

By

Edward L. Glaeser

Harvard University and NBER

And

Joseph Gyourko

The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

February 18, 2002, Preliminary Draft

Comments Welcome

Does America face an affordable housing crisis and, if so, why? This paper argues that in

much of America the price of housing is quite close to the marginal, physical costs of

new construction. The price of housing is significantly higher than construction costs

only in a limited number of areas, such as California and some eastern cities. In those

areas, we argue that high prices have little to do with conventional models with a free

market for land. Instead, our evidence suggests that zoning and other land use controls

play the dominant role in making housing expensive.

If you would like to read the entire 37 page document you can find it at the link listed above. It is a PDF file and will take some time to download - so be patient. The article is very specific and deals with economic calculations BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY it provides further evidence to support what happens when more "land use controls" such as Smart Growth / Comprehensive Planning are applied or adopted.