There's a classic joke about two old ladies complaining that a local restaurant has terrible food — and portions that are way too small. You could say something similar about housing in much of the United States: The homes on offer are dull, uninspiring, nearly identical, and in far too short supply, Ned Resnikoff writes. While the cookie-cutter sameness of American abodes and the worrying lack of new construction seem like two distinct issues, they actually go hand in hand. Local building codes and other land-use regulations have imposed strict limits on the size and shape of new housing, leading to both a major supply crunch and a deadening aesthetic uniformity of the housing that does get built. Head to the link in our bio to read more about why the single-family home does not need to be the sole legal construction option. Story by Ned Resnikoff (Credit: Mikel Jaso/BI) #weirdhomes #homebuyer #renter