Zoning

Cleveland Warehouse District

Cleveland Seeking Better Fortunes with a New Zoning Code

A ULI-led symposium in Cleveland is looking at how an update of the city's outdated zoning code could revive some neighborhoods in the city.

October 30, 2015 - Cleveland Plain-Dealer

Anchorage Tweaks Land Use Regulations for More Infill Development

The Anchorage Assembly has updated its land use regulations to allow taller apartments and spur redevelopment and infill in neighborhoods near major transit corridors and the employment centers of Downtown and Midtown.

October 16, 2015 - Alaska Dispatch News

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.

October 6, 2015 - PlaceShakers

Northwest Portland Hostel

The Charms of 'Illegal Neighborhoods'

A longtime resident of an old, eclectic neighborhood reflects on what makes the area so desirable and why new places like it are effectively outlawed today.

October 2, 2015 - City Observatory City Commentary

Plan Charlotte Survey Finds 9 Percent of the City Zoned for Mixed-Uses

Surveying the 373 square miles, or 238,720 acres, under jurisdiction of Plan Charlotte to see how much of it is zoned for mixed-use.

October 1, 2015 - Plan Charlotte

Unintended Consequences Predicted for de Blasio's Inclusionary Zoning Policy

According to New York Yimby, Mayor de Blasio's proposed inclusionary zoning policy could do more to protect small market-rate developments, without affordable housing, than it will to create affordable units.

September 18, 2015 - New York YIMBY

Suburban Rowhouses

Not Racist—but Similar to Racism

Low-density zoning is not racist in the narrowest sense of the term—but it does have similar goals to racist housing policies and creates similar problems.

July 29, 2015 - Michael Lewyn

Proposed Chicago TOD Ordinance: Increase Density, Eliminate Parking Requirements

Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced an update of the city's 2013 transit oriented development ordinance. The new version of the ordinance would have a sweeping effect on the land uses around transit stations in Chicago.

July 28, 2015 - Metropolitan Planning Council - The Connector

Vacant Mixed Use Ground Floor

When Mixed Use Goes Too Far

A recent op-ed by ULI Foundation Governor and developer John McNellis argues that too many cities are forcing mixed-use developments into neighborhoods, enabling vacancies and blight in the process.

July 22, 2015 - Urban Land Magazine

Hot Buttons and Live Wires: Inside Raleigh's Zoning Code Debate

Public hearings are underway in Raleigh to discuss the zoning changes necessary to implement the city's Unified Development ordinance. Heated rhetoric was inevitable.

July 18, 2015 - Indy Week

Tiny House

Tiny House Movement Pushing the Boundaries of Traditional Zoning

Tiny Houses on trailers are available and buyers are ready to live small, but most zoning regulations don’t allow recreational vehicles as a permanent residence. Can zoning catch up to the tiny living trend?

July 11, 2015 - The Charlotte Observer

Seattle Mixed Use Development

Seattle NIMBYs Protest Dense Development, Cite Eastern Bloc

A zoning bill has stirred up the fear that dense development projects will transform Seattle into a "Soviet cityscape." Residents accuse developers of using loopholes to squeeze in pricey, out-of-character townhomes.

June 23, 2015 - The Seattle Times

Medical Marijuana Sign

Op-Ed: Regulation Has Urban Progressives Confused

According to Aaron M. Renn, left-leaning urbanists chafe against a regulatory culture their ideology supports. Favoring "regulation for thee but not for me," they want to bend the rules, but only for enterprises they like.

June 1, 2015 - City Journal

Debate: YIMBY vs. Preservation in New York City

New York magazine recently convened a debate between two leading voices of an ongoing conversation in New York City: what to build and what to preserve.

May 14, 2015 - New York

Mount Hood Clackamas

One Suburban County's Search for Land to Support Employment

Amid concerns about lackluster growth, Oregon's Clackamas County plans to create 10,000 new family wage jobs by 2019. But the county lacks the zoned land it needs to accomplish its goals.

May 13, 2015 - OregonLive

Idiot brigade

More on the Cost of Anti-Growth Policies

As urban centers start making better sense for a digital economy, NIMBY policies might be worth re-examining. In addition to driving up the cost of housing, they may compound inefficiencies and slow down the economy.

April 12, 2015 - The Economist

Weisbrod Op-Ed Makes the Case for Proposed Zoning Changes

An op-ed by Carol Weisbrod, chairman of the NYC Planning Commission, makes the case for the de Blasio Administration's zoning policy as the key mechanism in its housing policy.

March 27, 2015 - New York Daily News

Houston's downtown skyline

Houston May Decide to Fence Itself In

Houston isn't freezing over. But, after decades of unbridled, un-zoned development, a new mayor, new planning director, and a raft of civic activists are promoting a general plan for the famously laissez-faire city.

March 20, 2015 - The Architect's Newspaper

New York City Parking

New York City Proposes Parking Requirement Overhaul

The New York Department of City Planning is working on an overhaul of its parking requirements with the potential to impact hundreds of developments.

March 10, 2015 - Capital New York

Exurban Development

Book Review: Zoned in the USA

"Zoned in the USA: The Origins and Implications of American Land-Use Regulation," by Sonja Hirt, describes the exceptional characteristics, compared to European land use regulations, that make U.S. zoning laws so conducive to sprawl.

March 4, 2015 - Josh Stephens

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.

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.