Single-family homes in Hillcrest, in DC.
As the Washington region, and the country, grapple with a housing shortage, the role single-family homes play in this crisis can not be understated. Currently, in the District, about 75% of all tax lots are zoned single-family; in the region, about 74% are single-family only. That’s a
lot—and does not come without a cost
. Diana Lind, author of “Brave New Home: Our Future in Smarter, Simpler, Happier Housing” writes about the impact of this phenomenon in housing:
“The more I searched these issues, the more I became convinced that the presumed benefits of single-family homes masked their negative social, economic, and environmental consequences. The data suggest that the current housing paradigm—predominantly oriented around owning a single-family home—is unaffordable, unhealthy, and out of step with consumer demand. And a large and growing portion of the population is unable to access the homeownership lifestyle, even if they desire it.”