I live in a township that rejected the building codes when they came up for a vote before I moved there. In a county with very little zoning. So it is pretty much anything goes. Now my little pocket was all sold off of a farm, so the 8 - 10 houses right by me are covered by deed restrictions that cover the kind and sizes of houses, outbuildings, setback, etc.. But the only enforcement mechanism is for you to sue your neighbors, which always makes the block party more fun.
Where I am it has been handy because you don't have to worry about getting permission for every little things. But you also can't control the bad stuff. 3 miles north of me there is the jankiest looking house I have ever seen. I think it started as a story and a half. It looks more cartoonish than real. It looks to have somewhere around 4 - 6 levels with a great big upper observation deck. I am assuming that sometime in the not distant future it will collapse. If you look at the satellite map there appears to be 7 semi trailers and a bunch of cars.
https://www.google.com/.../data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en If you go a few miles to the north or east of there it gets really weird. Single wides with an addition. Trailers glommed on to the side of an existing house. Shit that I can't even describe that you would swear no one would live in, but drive by and you see the TV on.
So I like and dislike a lot of the same things. Minimum lot size makes for a nice neighborhood but requires sprawl. Building codes are a PITA but prevent the above. Minimum house and maximum outbuilding sizes make for a more residential and upscale place, but keep you from doing what you want to do.
I'm beginning to think that we are much more fucked than I thought.