Guarding the Town Walls: Mechanisms and Motives for Restricting Multifamily Housing in Massachusetts

Author: Jenny Schuetz

Dissertation School: Harvard University

Abstract:

Municipal governments in the United States use zoning and other forms of land use regulation as a tool to accomplish a variety of local goals, such as controlling the demand for public services, preserving open space, protecting existing property values, and furthering economic development. In pursuit of these goals, towns frequently impose a complex set of restrictions on multifamily and other high-density housing. Since housing built at higher densities is generally less expensive, restrictions on density may affect the ability of low- and moderate-income households to live in desirable municipalities. Understanding the reasons why towns restrict development of high-density housing is critical to mitigating any negative effects of the regulations. Previous empirical studies of the causes and effects of land use regulation have been hampered by the difficulty of obtaining accurate, timely data on regulations. In the dissertation, I will examine how the political motivations and fiscal constraints of municipalities affect the type and stringency of multifamily housing regulations adopted.

Research Design and Methodology
This paper will make use of a newly collected database of land use regulations in 187 towns in eastern and central Massachusetts, which I have helped to assemble from reviewing local zoning bylaws. The result is a uniquely broad and rich dataset which captures many nuances of how towns regulate housing. The primary variables to be used in this analysis are the types of multifamily structures allowed, stringency of the permitting process and the land area requirements. To analyze why towns adopt regulations that restrict multifamily housing, I have developed several groupings of towns based on their characteristics and motivations: Rural Holdouts, Exclusionary Towns, Tipping Point Towns, and Liberal Guilt Towns. Each grouping yields different predictions for the type of regulation adopted; these hypotheses can be tested by regressing aggregate measures of regulation on key explanatory variables including political party affiliation; degree of fiscal dependence on residential property taxes; demographic and economic characteristics such as income, distribution by race, age and educational attainment; resources devoted to land use planning; distance from Boston and density of existing housing stock.

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