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Zoning regulations drive rising regional housing costs and residential
segregation in the United States. In response, governments are
passing laws to override local regulations that limit housing density,
despite entrenched opposition from incumbent residents. We
study how residents living near housing permitted under one such
law, Massachusetts’ Chapter 40B, are affected by and respond to
this new, denser housing. Exploiting hyperlocal variation in proximity
to 40B developments, we find that the average development
does not affect these residents’ property values (95% CI: [–0.4%,
2.4%]). For larger developments that do decrease values, outmigration
and political responses are small or non-existent.
