Yes, they're really quite nice and definitely wasteful, but we can't help it! It's policy: http://www.nationalaffairs.com/publications/detail/rethinkin...

Quite sad, especially when read in the light of "Why are there NIMBYs?" (https://www.dartmouth.edu/~wfischel/Papers/00-04.PDF)

In essence, the paper argues that highly-leveraged homeownership causes NIMBYs.