Single-Family Zoning

Rezoning Every Residential Neighborhood in Cambridge for Affordable Apartment Buildings
Cambridge, Massachusetts has opened all residential neighborhoods to the development of apartments buildings with 100 percent affordable units. It might be the most "sweeping attack on elitist and racist single family zoning" in the country.

'Permit Ready Plans' for ADUs Published in Stockton, California
Cities looking to provide incentive for the construction of accessory dwelling units are increasingly released "permit ready plans" to help the cause.

On the Ballot in Alameda: The End of Single-Family Zoning
Voters in Alameda, a city of nearly 80,000 people on an island in the East San Francisco Bay Area, will vote to end a prohibition on multi-family housing that has been in place since 1973.

Lawyers Taking the Single-Family Zoning Fight to a Connecticut Town
Open Communities Alliance, along with law students and professors at a fair housing development clinic at Yale Law School, have proposed a development meant to trigger the exclusionary zoning code in the town of Woodbridge, Connecticut.

An Academic Debate With Very Real Consequences: Land Use Regulations and the Cost of Housing
An article from the journal Urban Studies is inspiring debate and controversy over a year after publication, presenting opposing opinions on fundamental questions about how land use regulation affects the housing market.

Missing Middle Density Will Take More Than Zoning Changes
Looking for change in the housing supply? "Don't stop at the zoning code and think you're done. There's so much work left to do."

Zoning Reforms Underwhelm in Minneapolis as Development Market Holds Course
As one of the first city's to comprehensively allow for residential density, Minneapolis was probably hoping for more than what it's achieved so far.

Another Defeat for Statewide Zoning Reform in California
Another year, another defeat for sweeping changes to the status quo of single-family zoning in the state of California. SB 1120 would have allowed duplexes in areas previously zoned for detached single family zoning.

What Trump Gets Wrong About America’s Suburbs
The Trump administration’s talk about protecting the suburbs is based on misrepresentations of who really lives in suburbs and what these communities need.

Missing Middle Housing Study Launches in Arlington County, Virginia
Missing Middle Housing, the kinds of additional density that can be added with limited construction on a footprint the size of traditional single-family homes, is gaining momentum in the D.C. region.

How Massachusetts Got its Historic Planning Reform Moment
As reported earlier this month, the Massachusetts Legislature is poised to approve historic statewide land use reforms that would preempt local control of residential development. Here's a detailed account of how the state arrived at this moment.

Proposed Single-Family Zoning Reform Would Have a Big Footprint in California
SB 1120 is the latest law proposed in the California Legislature to preempt restrictive local zoning.

'Housing Choice' Ready to Overcome the Planning Status Quo in Massachusetts
After several failed attempts, Massachusetts Legislature is close to a breakthrough on the Housing Choice initiative proposed by Governor Baker as a tool for generating a lot of new housing supply in the state.

The 'Most Pro-Housing Reform in U.S. History' Expected for Approval Today in Portland
The Portland Residential Infill Project is expected for approval by the Portland City Council today, culminating a six year process that became more and more ambitious with every iteration.

Connecting Sprawl to Inequality and Climate Change
The consequences of more than a century of planning and zoning are gaining more attention in the media as the country struggles through a pandemic. Will these lessons win new political support for more density in residential neighborhoods?

Missing Middle Zoning Reform Advances in the Vermont Legislature
The Vermont State Senate voted unanimously to approve legislation that would reduce barriers to more compact residential development. The Vermont House of Representatives is up next.

Structural Racism in the Zoning Code
A pair of articles from the Twin Cities, revealing the racist motivations of exclusionary zoning.

Marohn: End Single-Family Zoning
A prominent conservative voice in the urban planning debate makes the case for repealing the single-family zoning status quo.

What Is Missing Middle Housing?
One of the newest terms in the world of urban planning, Missing Middle Housing has generated a lot of attention in recent years as cities around the United States look for ways to create more housing options in a vast sea of single-family homes.

Opinion: Less Restrictive Zoning Necessary for Urban Areas to Lead Recovery
An opinion piece makes the case for pro-development urban planning as a tool of economic recovery.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Caltrans
Smith Gee Studio
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
Salt Lake City
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service