As time has progressed and civil rights legislation has been enacted, racial, ethnic and economic segregation has become more subtle. Covenants, Codes and Restrictions, commonly referred to as “CCRs”, are deed restrictions placed on lots. They create lots generally of a certain size and price. They require minimum house size (often 2,000 sq ft or more). They specifically restrict the lot’s use to one single family dwelling and many times, they require owner occupancy, prohibiting renters.
Planned Unit Developments (PUDs) are another way developers use to achieve the same ends. An entire area is designed for a look and feel. Many times, homes in PUDs are similar size, design and even color. Often in the suburbs or at the edges of our communities, and generally large enough to create at least a small neighborhood, PUDs further foster that “sameness” and discourage diversity.
The general thinking is to use multi-family housing as a “buffer” between more intense uses (commercial) and less intense uses (single family). Neighborhood Groups fight adamantly about keeping the single family “character” of their areas intact.
These create at best a homogenous neighborhood of similar economic class and at worst segregates the wealthier from the economically poorer residents. Socially, monoculture is, in my opinion (and in the opinions of many others much smarter than me) unhealthy. When we only hang out with people who look like us, think like us and have similar economic means, not only do we miss out on a variety of cultural exposure, society will decay and divide.
(next: the advantages of mixed use neighborhoods)