Builder Emerson Claus and his foreman Rene Landeverde at the site of an apartment they are building in a suburb of Boston.
“A lot of my tradespeople found other work, went and got retrained for new jobs in law enforcement, all sorts of jobs,” says Claus. “So the workforce was somewhat decimated.” Hipolito Herrador is fashioning supports to hold up a portion of an existing house so an additional apartment unit can be built onto it. Some states and towns are changing their zoning rules to make it easier to add such “accessory dwelling units.”
Overly restrictive zoning is a big problem nationally, says Robert Dietz, the chief economist with the National Association of Home Builders. “In certain neighborhoods you simply cannot build townhouses.”
Corporations are buying up all the single family homes. It shouldn’t be allowed.