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Are Americans Ready to Let Go of Single-Family Homes?

Dora Mekouar

   For decades, many Americans have viewed owning their own home as a
   tangible symbol of the American Dream. But the question of whether that
   dream includes dividing one single-family home into two -- along with
   other higher housing density options -- is about to be tested in a
   handful of states nationwide.

   Virginia is one of the latest states to tackle the affordable housing
   crisis by considering zoning rules to allow denser -- and, potentially,
   more affordable -- housing, in any area now zoned for single-family
   homes.

   "If a property owner feels it fits their need to upgrade to a duplex
   from a single family's owned property, then they will go about it
   through a local approval process," says House Delegate Ibraheem
   Samirah, who represents a district in suburban Washington, D.C. "After
   the local approval process is completed, then they can create their two
   families' owned property as they see fit."

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