Zoning Density Caps Are Arbitrary

New York's residential zoning encodes a 'magic number' of square feet by which you divide a building's allowable area to get the maximum number of dwelling units, but this maximum-dwelling cap confers no advantage to the city—New York's density 80 years ago was nearly double today's, so infrastructure can clearly support more people; the number was set when household size was about 4.5 people but is now around 1.2, forcing developers to build larger apartments than demanded.