>>1972667>You keep bringing the conversation back to density, which in an urban area is absolutely a product of zoning.San Francisco IS ALREADY DENSE, especially by American standards. Because it's hemmed-in by natural geography meaning its only option for growth is to get more dense. So zoning laws in SF (#24, ~7,100/km^2) have accommodated more density than places like Houston, which doesn't even make the top 140 with its density of ~1,400/km^2.
To match San Francisco's density, Houston would need a population over 12 million-- that's in the city itself not the overall metro area. Houston will need to maintain 18% growth for 100 years to reach 12 million. You can't just "use zoning" to achieve that kind of long-term growth.
So don't try to use San Fran as an example of zoning preventing density. Maybe it's keeping it from getting MORE dense than it already is, but for the purposes of this discussion, SF is plenty dense-- far less than Madrid or Barcelona but ahead of other cities mentioned like Leeds and Manchester.
