Bingo!
While I may understand the desire for historic districts and the oppressive dictatorial regimes of the dreaded HOA board (lots of HOAs down here, I do not live in one!) the people involved do not understand how much those rules raise the cost of housing.
Another source of the affordable housing shortage is minimum size requirements. A nearby, very middle-class suburb is pushing for 2000 ft2 minimum:
City of Mesquite considers upping minimum home size to 2,000 square feet | KUT Radio, Austinās NPR Station
And even where itās not the law, developers will build bigger rather than smaller when given the chance.
Itās not just that. This area is not like many others. For example, sewers donāt exist in many towns and private septic is more prevalent due to the costs of digging and hitting ledge. You canāt just plop a 6 family home down on an acre lot and meet the regulations for septic. Plus there are tons of wetlands- something Florida must also contend with.
Weāll never have a development like The Villages or Winter Haven around here 
Not sure if you are talking about Floridaās west coast hereā¦ Naples/Collier Co. up through Bonita Springs and into Fort Myers/Lee County is mostly serviced by municipal water and sewer companies. Cape Coral ( a bit of a municipal mess by most measures!) is about 1/2 and 1/2 but gradually converting wells and septic to city services. I am not sure about the large āspecialā developments like Babcock Ranch and Ave Maria. My county has issues with affordable homes but builders are pounding out apartments and homes at a rapid pace.
West of I-75 is pretty built-out in Naples, not at all in Bonita and not entirely but getting close in Fort Myers area. Places like Tampa and Sarasota are built out. Redevelopment is all that is left.
We joke about the Villages for a LOT of reasons well beyond water and sewer! 
But give the Villages credit, their prices are low compared even to my neighborhood, let alone Naples. But inland homes will be lower in cost.
Not here. We donāt want them since they drive down the desirability of the neighborhood. There is now a county ordinance that prevents short term rentals. Long term is fine, but we donāt want the unpredictable nature of short term rentals.
Yes Iād do and itās fine with me. I want my investment protected as much as possible. No short term rentals and conversions of our McMansions to multiple housing units. We have lots of apartments in our area, I just donāt want them on my street. I even like the idea of lower income families participating in the educational opportunities offered here. I was happy that my children lived in a school district with poor, middle income and high income families so that they could be exposed to as many different people as possible. That allowed them to learn that everyone is pretty much the same. After finishing our development the GC retired because keeping up with the new building rules became a full time job. A small business like his couldnāt be profitable.
I donāt know where you live, but here in New England the Historic districts and HOAās account for less the 2% of all homes. Doesnāt really have much of an effect on the rest of the homes. Especially in the poorer neighborhoods. The biggest driving force for home prices here in NH and MA is demand. We have one of the best economies in the country (2.4%). Good paying tech jobs with no income tax or sales tax brings a lot of people here. Thatās also what is driving the costs of homes in MA and CA.
But they need to be on somebodyās streetā¦ If not yours, whose?
Were all the carburetors on display Edelbrocks which weren't OE on any vehicle. Of course they were relatively simple to rebuild although I prefer Q-jets when original.
Ford 2bbls are awfully simple to rebuild while Ford VV=2bbls were criminally difficult as were all electronic controlled 2 and 4bbls.
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This post has left me somewhat in the dark`The complexes are so large that typically they are on their own street. Apartments are also near the commercial area of town. Almost all home owners near them are townhouses. As the distance grows the single family homes become more prevalent.
But you also have some of the highest property taxes in the country.
They are building apartments like crazy around here fully supported by free land and tax breaks. The recent few have been on flood plains and reclaimed dumps. I think grandma and grampa are moving to the new ones and the older ones a good percentage of section 8. I just havenāt paid much attention to the whole thing but clearly apartments are considered affordable housing.
In the long long run though, you pay market rates which increase each year, for less square footage and never build any equity. We shall see if this is a good or bad thing in 20 years or so. Back when we were first married, I paid $135 for 400 sq ft in one of the best complexes in town. We built then and got 1400 sq ft for $300, but the payment never went up and appreciated over the years. Yeah lots of particulars but I wonder if this is the approach that keeps poor people poor.
Did you see the latest? Now they are subsidizing people with low credit scores by charging those with high credit scores more on interest rates. This is completely ridiculous. The whole purpose of the system was to help identify risks for banks in the loan process. Now we punish people who worked to have good credit ratings by paying bills on time etc.
Hereās a reference thatās not behind a firewall but itās all over the newsā¦
Weāre the third highest. But our overall Tax Burder is the third lowest.
Yes yes. Pick a subject. Up is down and down is up. We only have a good credit rating because of all that has been given to us and must now pay for our privilege. Fact is though Iāve always had a good credit rating since I was twenty years old. I didnāt borrow more than I needed and always paid on time, even when I didnāt have much money. It was part of my culture. But now those that never paid on time for 40 years, need our help (sarc). So I just say stick it, I have no intention of borrowing money. Geez Iām glad I didnāt go into banking.
A banker told me once they look at two things, character and ability to pay, but character was more important. But that was 40 years ago.
Just to add as I remember my youth. I was in boot camp when my school loan payments started. My payment were $60 and my army net was $80. That gave me $20 for the month. I never missed or was late on a payment. I sucked it up. I know that doesnāt sound like much now but it was in 1970. So I wonāt be paying higher interest for someone else.