The redefinition of the single-family house, the urban landscape, and the American Dream.
Sitting squarely at the center of the American Dream, the detached single-family home has long been the basic building block of most US cities. In Remaking the American Dream, Vinit Mukhija considers how this is changing, in both the American psyche and the urban landscape.
In defiance of long-held norms and standards, single-family housing is slowly but significantly transforming through incremental additions of second and third units. Drawing on empirical evidence of informal and formal changes, Remaking the American Dream documents homeowners' quiet unpermitted modifications, conversions, and workarounds, as well as gradual institutional alterations to once-rigid local land-use regulations. Mukhija's primary case study is Los Angeles and the role played by the State of California—findings he contrasts with the experience of other cities including Santa Cruz, Seattle, Portland, Minneapolis, and Vancouver. In each instance, he shows how, and asks why, homeowners are adapting their homes and governments are changing the rules that regulate single-family housing to allow for accessory dwelling units (ADUs) or second units.
Key to Mukhija's research is the question of why the idea of single-family living is changing and what this means for the future of US cities. The answer, this book suggests, heralds nothing less than a redefinition of American urbanism—and the American Dream.
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This book is licensed under a Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC-ND). You can download the ebook Remaking the American Dream for free.
- Title
- Remaking the American Dream
- Subtitle
- The Informal and Formal Transformation of Single-Family Housing Cities
- Publisher
- The MIT Press
- Author(s)
- Vinit Mukhija
- Published
- 2022-12-20
- Edition
- 1
- Format
- eBook (pdf, epub, mobi)
- Pages
- 328
- Language
- English
- ISBN-10
- 0262544768
- ISBN-13
- 9780262372411
- License
- CC BY-NC-ND
- Book Homepage
- Free eBook, Errata, Code, Solutions, etc.
Cover Contents Acknowledgments I. Single-Family Housing Cities 1. The Changing Norms and Regulations of Single-Family Housing The Idea of Single-Family Housing and the Significance of Its Redefinition Housing, Affordable Housing, and Informal Housing A Preview of the Arguments Research Design A Guide to the Chapters That Follow 2. The Ideology of Single-Family Living The Rise of Homeownership and Single-Family Housing as the American Dream The Reality of the American Dream Conclusion II. Informal Second Units in Los Angeles 3. City of Dreams: Single-Family Housing and Second Units in Los Angeles City of Dream Homes Making Los Angeles Polycentric Unraveling of the Dream State Government Intervention and a New Property Right for Owners The Neighborhood Perspective: Opposition as Well as Potential Support Conclusion 4. The Everyday Prevalence of Informal Second Units Informal Economic Activities: A Brief Literature Review Unpermitted Second Units in Los Angeles: Prevalence, Distribution, and Typology The Social Enforcement of Regulations: LADBS Complaints Data Managing and Negotiating Informality The Potential and Precarity of Informality Conclusion Appendix III. Formal Second Units and Institutional Changes in Single-Family Housing 5. Enforcement and Formalization of Unpermitted Second Units in Los Angeles Interpreting and Responding to the Informal Economy Enforcement and Legalization of Garage Housing Support for and Opposition to Formal Second Units in Los Angeles State Government Intervention and Mandates Challenges in Legalizing and Upgrading Second Units Conclusion 6. The Formalization of Second Units: The Role of Local Governments Overcoming Local Concerns about Density and Development: What is the Right Scale of Intervention? Santa Cruz: Building Support for Local Reform Seattle: Locally Led Upzoning Portland: Second Units and the End of Single-Family Zoning Minneapolis: A Swift Transition from Second Units to the End of Single-Family Zoning Vancouver: Making Room for More Housing Units Conclusion: The Potential, Promise, and Limitations of Local Interventions IV. The New American Dream 7. Remaking the Suburban City ADUs as a Rational Planning Response Urban Informality and Informal Housing in the Global North Local Governments and Single-Family Housing Housing as a Social Dream Notes Chapter 1. The Changing Norms and Regulations of Single-Family Housing Chapter 2. The Ideology of Single-Family Living Chapter 3. City of Dreams: Single-Family Housing and Second Units in Los Angeles Chapter 4. The Everyday Prevalence of Informal Second Units Chapter 5. Enforcement and Formalization of Unpermitted Second Units in Los Angeles Chapter 6. The Formalization of Second Units: The Role of Local Governments Chapter 7. Remaking the Suburban City References Interviews and Personal Communications Index
