Zoning Laws Weren't Built for Us -

And That's the Problem

I’ve spent years dreaming about a small home I could actually afford and manage. Not a mansion. Not a McMansion. Just a modest home that works for me. But over and over, I ran into the same wall: zoning.

 

Turns out, my dream was illegal.

 

That’s right — the very rules that decide what can be built where said no to me before I ever had a chance. Not because my idea was unsafe. Not because it was bad design. But because zoning laws were written with someone else’s life in mind: two incomes, two cars, a big lot, a big house. If you don’t fit that mold, the system tells you your needs don’t count.

 

And here’s the part we don’t like to say out loud: zoning wasn’t neutral when it was written. Minimum lot sizes. Parking mandates. Square footage requirements. They didn’t just “happen.” They were tools of exclusion — used to keep out lower-income families, renters, and people of color. Zoning was designed to protect wealth and keep certain neighborhoods “exclusive.” That legacy is still baked into the system today.

 

The result? Families shut out of ownership. People with disabilities forced into housing that doesn’t fit. Single-income households told they should just rent forever. Whole generations priced out before they even get a shot.

 

That’s the problem with zoning: it wasn’t built for us. And if the rules themselves are broken, no amount of wishful thinking will fix the housing crisis until we change them.

 

At Little Haven, we’re breaking those rules — not illegally, but intentionally. We’re building smaller, smarter homes in community-centered neighborhoods because that’s what actually works for real people. We’re proving that dignity, stability, and accessibility don’t need to be zoned out of existence.

 

If we want a future where homeownership is possible again, zoning laws have to catch up. Until then, I’ll keep saying it: the system wasn’t built for today — and that’s exactly why it has to change.