W. Kingston is incorporated into South Kingstown as is currently seen as part of the periphery in the Core-periphery Comprehensive Plan for South Kingstownwhich concentrates development around Peacedale and Wakefield. A 1995 Phasing and Pacing ordinance established a building-cap for the amount of square-footage and units that could be built – 160 units/year (40/qtr.) and 20,000 sq.ft. are the current maximums. There has been focused development, such as the Mill Complex, in Wakefield as part of the urban core.

Escalating housing prices are making affordable homeownership and rental housing increasingly difficult to find for many South Kingstown residents. Rhode Island mandates 10% of all new housing units to be designated as affordable housing, with proposals of 20% able to bypass some local control. Currently, only a few cities, such as Providence and Pawtucket, are in compliance with the mandate, but there are no known towns in Washington County in compliance and South Kingstown's proportion of affordable housingis approximately 5.3%.

Because so little of the housing stock is subsidized and fits the definition of affordable housing, South Kingstown and other communities in Washington County are submitting RFPs for affordable housing developments. There has been an increase in proposals, including the Mill Complex, which attempt to address South Kingstown’s lack of affordable housing, and meet the additional housing demands of a growing population. Concentrating these developments around transit stations or hubs, such as at the Kingston Station site, would be a way for communities to both address the affordable housing needs and to protect open space, while providing mobility and reducing auto dependence.