:96-1 Central City Dominance in Metropolitan Areas and the Availability of Affordable Housing

Fragmented suburban jurisdictions dominat-ing a metropolitan area may limit the availability of affordable housing because of their restrictive land use regulations. When the central cities are dominant, however, their less restrictive land use regulations may result in the increased availability of affordable housing. In a study of 46 of the 100 largest U.S. metropolitan areas, it was found that those areas where over half of the population or land was contained in central cities had fewer land use restrictions; and those areas with fewer land use restrictions had more affordable housing. Central city dominance in metropolitan areas plays an important role in determining the levels of restrictions on land use and must be considered by those concerned with the availability of affordable housing