The opposite also happens: barring multi-family dwellings that would reduce costs, and enacting codes that would allow for cheaper, but still safe, dwellings. The former is happening in pretty much every city, and there's no shortage of reporting on it, so I'll leave that to you, but for the former, I would specifically look at the laws that are forcing advocates of tiny houses and backyard apartments to continue fighting. Toronto recently reformed their laws to allow for the latter, after years of pressure.

Suffice it to say, these situations are far more common in cities than the ones you've described.