I live in a "smart" growth area. All of the land here is zoned, even rural land. If you want to own some land, say 5 acres, outside of the urban growth boundary (the boundary that contains the city, and it is a real boundary), and it's zoned agricultural, then you have to work it and make $80,000 per year for 3 years (or $80,000 per year for 3 of 5 years). If you succeed in doing that, then the gov't. will "allow" you build a house. And, you have to keep working the land. If you have an elderly, widowed mother-in-law and would like to build a small house on your property so you could look after her, well, that's NOT allowed. Only one dwelling per farm. The zoning laws here are why it took my husband and I 5 1/2 years to find a lot that didn't require us to grow Christmas trees or have cows! The lot is smaller than we wanted (only 1 acre), but in the city the houses are on top of each other (a 15,000 sq.ft. lot is considered large...I've never lived anyplace where they measured lots in square footage!) and the lots can cost $150,000 and up. Builders will buy an older house, bulldoze it, and put up 6-8 houses on that one lot. I could go on and on, but I've already taken up too much space.
IMHO, it's nuts!
Thanks for heads up.