[skybrian]

It would be interesting to know how many houses are built by developers versus their first occupants. If this is all about what developers do, new home buyers aren't making the decisions anyway. The house is already built.

If the question is whether a developer, local community (via zoning), or the state of California gets to make the decision about what houses in a particular area look like, I don't think I have a strong opinion, since it looks to me like collective, political decision-making either way.