I know that Seattle has 65% of the land zoned for single family homes. If this were no the case the city could build vertical thus eliminating the need to drive so far.
A councilwoman in Seattle said she does not want to move away from all the single family zoning because then they would receive less in property taxes.
They are currently talking about raiding property taxes more... which will actually be my nice blog post.
We have 58 cranes in the sky, with a lot of them downtown building condos so people don't have to have a car. However the price of these units are going for more than what a house in the burbs costs, or they are so small you can't raise a family in them. So, it is only meant for DINKs (Double Income No Kids) or people who want roommates