HOW ZONING SHAPES COMMUNITIES

THE GOOD, BAD AND HOPEFUL ASPECTS 

OF THE CENTURY-OLD TOOL THAT DETERMINES

EVERYTHING ABOUT THE PLACES WE LIVE, WORK AND PLAY

“If we know we need additional state and federal investment in tax credits to create housing, but we pour money into a broken system, we are destined to fail,” Jason Jordan, the American Planning Association’s (APA) public affairs director, said.

‘We set rules that make it very difficult to get things built. 

Almost everything requires a variance. Variances becomes very politicized through neighborhood concerns and political agendas.”

He noted that a lot of things on the books in city zoning codes remain from industrialization, which begot separation of uses and created car-dependent suburbs.

“The problem is that we have new sets of social and economic challenges that [old codes] don’t address.

Seniors want to age in place. 

We need walkable, transit-served, age-friendly communities. 

People are working more from home. 

They want neighborhood conveniences, not only single-family homes where they live and work.”