Residential Land Uses

• Large sections of urban areas are dedicated to residential land uses like houses, apartments, and condos.Aerial downtown image by juanolete from Fotolia.com
  
  Residential land uses are generally places where people live. They can come in many different forms, from massive mansions to tiny studio apartments. Some are urban, others rural. The predominant form of housing in the United States under local zoning codes is single-family housing, or a dwelling unit—house—where only one family lives. Some governments encourage mixed-use and multifamily housing to try to help lower living costs while increasing the efficiency of their transportation systems. Other localities prefer single-family housing, citing crime and safety concerns.
  
  

Single-Family Housing

• Single-family housing is a popular residential land use.single family houses image by MAXFX from Fotolia.com
  
  One of the most common residential land uses are houses meant to accommodate a single family. In many areas zoned for residential uses, single-family housing is the only legally permitted use. Single-family housing may be "attached," as with duplexes or triplexes, or "detached," as with suburban-style houses. Single-family housing is distinct from multi-family housing in that each parcel of land is allowed to accommodate only one family. Even so, single family housing comes in many shapes and sizes. Some are relatively high-density, on smaller lots with less square footage. Others are low-density, sprawling across large lots and accommodating large square footages of living space.
  
  

Multi-Family Housing

• Apartments and condos are residential land uses.apartment building image by Christopher Dodge from Fotolia.com
  
  Although houses are common, they're not the only kind of place where people might choose to live. Other residential land uses include apartments, condos, and boarding houses—places where multiple families might live together on a single lot. Under zoning codes, these housing formats are usually called "multifamily." Some cities incentivize multifamily housing development to help provide affordable living space. Others opt to do so because multifamily is generally high-density, and so may be better at accommodating public transit users, who have fewer needs for road infrastructure. Some cities discourage multifamily housing due to fears of overcrowding and crime.
  
  

Mixed-Use Housing

• Housing in urban areas is often "mixed-use," consisting of buildings where both commercial and residential uses take place.downtown seattle image by Melissa Schalke from Fotolia.com
  
  In more recent years there has been an increased emphasis on development of a type of housing called "mixed-use housing." In most residential areas zoning laws restrict development to buildings where people live—houses, duplexes, apartments and condos. Under these zoning laws land uses like businesses or factories are not allowed. Mixed-use housing, by contrast, is a type of residential land use that allows commercial or industrial operations to take place as well. The most common form of mixed-use housing is a combined retail and residential building, where businesses operate stores on the ground floor while people live in condo or apartment homes upstairs. Other mixed-use housing units accommodate a commercial use within the residential unit itself. These are often called "live-work" units.