Zoning Reform
Advocates: Gowanus Rezoning Must Address Affordability
As the supply of affordable housing in Gowanus continues to diminish, a new coalition demands that any rezoning plan fill the gaps.
Albany, New York, Putting Finishing Touches on Comprehensive Zoning Reform
Earlier this week, Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan sent a draft of the city's new Unified Sustainable Development Ordinance to the city's Common Council.
Codes Study: Trends in Zoning Reform
The Codes Study is updated! These are the cities that are rewriting their land use laws to promote wellness, economic strength, and environmental resilience.
Buffalo's Green Code Signed Into Law
After six years and 242 meetings, Buffalo's Green Code was signed into law Tuesday. The Green Code is the first rewrite of the city's zoning ordinance since 1953, and one of only three citywide form-based codes implemented in North America.
Expected for Approval Today: The New Buffalo Green Code
The Buffalo Common Council is expected to approve a highly anticipated overhaul of its zoning code. Known commonly as the Buffalo Green Code, city planners tout the new code as deliberately contemporary and progressive.
Baltimore's New Zoning Code Almost a Done Deal
The Baltimore City Council granted initial approval for the city's first zoning code overhaul in over 40 years.
Massachusetts Moves Zoning Reform Bill Forward
An update to the state's zoning laws—the first update of its kind since 1975—is moving forward through the Massachusetts Legislature.
Don't Forget the Neighborhoods Zoning Reform Leaves Behind
While urbanists target zoning reform to help build more housing in desirable neighborhoods, other neighborhoods around cities are being left behind to languish, according to this opinion piece published by Forbes.
A National Consensus on Zoning? Not So Fast
The issue of zoning might be a place for wonks of both the conservatives and the liberal variety to find middle ground, but zoning in the real world is more contentious than consensus.
Coding for Character: Doing Away With the Zoned Out Nature of Cities
What's keeping the historic parts of your city or town from staying up-to-date and well-loved? Usually, the laws.
Re-Zoning For Walkability
It often seems that streetscapes' appearances and forms are immutable, but Los Angeles is trying something new. Through a herculean effort called Recode: LA, Los Angeles is rewriting its codes and, consequently, may change how its streets look.
Philadelphia Zoning Board Called Out for 'Municipal Dysfunction'
Ryan Briggs reports on the state of the Philadelphia Zoning Board of Adjustment—although zoning reform was a promise of Mayor Michael Nutter's administration, Briggs finds that inconsistency and mysterious politics still mar the board's decisions.
After Month of Hearings, D.C. Still Not Ready to Vote on Zoning Rewrite
After five years of work, D.C.'s Zoning Commission is not quite ready to consider changes to the city's 55-year-old zoning code. Additional public hearings have been scheduled after some groups asked for additional outreach.
Traditional Cities and Towns: Incubators of Incompetent Children
With tongue firmly in cheek, Scott Doyon asks urban dwellers, "Are your enviable surroundings crippling the children?"
The Politics of Zoning Reform: Targeting Your Communications
Zoning reform is a political campaign. Coder Susan Henderson talks about audience dynamics, with a special focus on how to communicate with property owners and the developer community.
The Politics of Zoning Reform: Know Your Audience
In a blog post for Better! Cities & Towns, Susan Henderson compiles a comprehensive list of the types of personalities that must be brought on board to navigate the politics of zoning reform.
Is Neighborhood Activism Stifling Community Planning?
Roger Valdez gives his take on the new obstructionism that is dominating public participation and holding up much-needed growth in Seattle and elsewhere.
Fusion Businesses as Indicators of Urban Change
Chuck Wolfe explains how the fusion of laundromats and dining are evidence of the evolving city and the ongoing need for regulatory reform.
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.
Florida Atlantic University
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
City of Piedmont, CA
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
City of Cambridge, Maryland
