Originally Posted by UniChris

Indeed, the problem is specifically building the housing in those outlying areas - rather than not also building stores alongside it.

So where "zoning" is an issue, it's zoning that limits housing density and infill in the already developed areas.

MA has just come out with a scheme to mandate "as of right" multifamily zoning near rail transit in the Boston-oriented part of the state that the rail system covers.

I currently live in an infill unit a very short walk from a real grocery store - it's exactly the sort of housing that should be being developed. But most of what's on the market here is 3-4 or more miles from such resources. Even the really trendy forwarding-thinking projects, have car-based life errands as a base assumption. The only at-scale development I've noticed that's actually sensible is one off the rail trail leading to major shopping - but it's over-55 and a half million for tiny little single-story places. If they'd done something like attached townhouses with a garage and basement, they could have doubled or trippled the density and made something that was actually appealing at a plausible price, even if some needed internal elevators or stair lifts (a pandemic creates a big "nope" around shared hallways and laundry type apartment buildings)