The Challenge Of Hillside Development

21 July 2003 - 8:00am

Hillside living in becoming increasingly popular. How do planners write zoning laws that allow hillside development while preserving natural landmarks?

"The people who build homes on urban mountains and hillsides want to see unobstructed sunsets and sunrises, twinkling nightscapes, maybe even Eloy on a good day. The people down below want to see the mountains and hillsides. So how do you write zoning and building laws that allow both views, that respect property owners' rights and still preserve some of the Valley's iconic natural landmarks? Planners have struggled to answer that question for years with mixed success."

Source: The Arizona Republic, July 20, 2003
Bookmark and Share
It has been estimated that half of all Americans, and two-thirds of urban Americans, live in suburbia. Here are the key questions: Does suburbia exist because it is the natural "culmination of urban development"?