"What baffles me about Bay Area housing market is a relative absence of higher density housing. Topographical and zoning constraints (mountains
and water) do not seem to halt sprawl of single family units."
exactly, and sadly, so called environmentalists play a major role in stopping high density building...of course, there is far more profit in single family sprawl, but even when developer and business interests support what they have come to call "workforce housing", it doesn't have
a prayer...
in marin county, where i rent, the average cost of a house is waaay over
half a million , so it is in the interest of some parts of the commercial community to get affordable housing, just to have a crew that
doesn't have a day long commute to get to the mall...but when the protectors of property values and open space get together- and they are often the same people - forget about it...
at one point, the enviros here in marin were almost a revolutionary movement...in the past, they saved the county from having its major land
area converted into a small city, with roads and congestion...west marin
is still relatively pristine and beautiful due to their work in the past...but in recent years, they have become a reactionary force when it
comes to housing...
fs