Sunday, August 25, 2013  Cargo cult suburbanism  It seems that
every time there's a proposal for a multiple unit apartment or
condo building, some voices will pop up and whine, "why can't
they just build some affordable single (or two-) family detached
houses?!?!" Some will even go on to make the wild claim that
multi-unit buildings "cause" single family detached house prices
to rise.  This thought process is completely backwards: like
blaming your runny nose for causing your cold. Instead, it is
the rising prices on existing homes which attracts developers to
build more homes, and eventually multi-unit buildings.  The
reason the prices on single family homes are going up is because
that kind of structure is an inefficient use of an increasingly
valuable and limited resource: land.  It has nothing to do with
the presence of multi-unit housing. In general, if land prices
go up, then home prices will go up. If you want to reduce home
prices on the open market, either: (a) find a way to reduce land
prices, or (b