The YIMBY movement started thanks to a series of fights about gentrification frontier neighborhoods in dense cities, but the battle for housing abundance has many other dimensions.

slowboring.com/p/housing-abun…

In New Hampshire, for example, they’ve largely banned suburban starter homes.

The state is a bit of an outlier but there are towns like this all over the country.

slowboring.com/p/housing-abun…

Matthew Yglesias Doesn't this have to do with percolation? Ie, the prevalence of septic systems over sewers + poor percolation requires larger lot sizes.

D. J. Matthew Yglesias Can't speak to CT but in rural MD it is a factor but hardly the biggest one. Combination of state and local laws effectively mandate large lots and make small, affordable homes impossible to build and still make money where you can get around lot size minimums.

Kevin Waterman Matthew Yglesias Even as late as 2013, 51% of new homes in New England had septic tanks. 36% of new homes in NE had well water in 2021.

Kevin Waterman Matthew Yglesias Herr is a soil percolation map of NE. Everything except Cape Cod sucks.