Land use regulations provide exhibit A in this indictment of the American legal system's support for a murderous and destructive dependence on automobiles for transportation.
Gregory H. Shill, an associate professor of law at the University of Iowa College of Law, writes for The Atlantic about how the laws and regulations of the United States force Americans to drive.
According to Shill, "over the course of several generations lawmakers rewrote the rules of American life to conform to the interests of Big Oil, the auto barons, and the car-loving 1 percenters of the Roaring Twenties."
"Land-use law, criminal law, torts, insurance, vehicle safety regulations, even the tax code—all these sources of law provide rewards to cooperate with what has become the dominant transport mode, and punishment for those who defy it," writes Shill.
Shill starts the detailing of these claims by focusing on local land use regulations. Other laws relevant to planning, like the 85 percent law used to set speed limits, are also detailed.
The consequences of what Shill calls "auto supremacy" are tragic: "In a country where the laws compel the use of cars, Americans are condemned to lose friends and relatives to traffic violence." Added to the 40,000 people killed and 4 million injured, are the effects of climate change and air pollution.
Shill's writing for The Atlantic previews a larger journal article published in June, titled "Should Law Subsidize Driving?"
Read the full story: Americans Shouldn’t Have to Drive, but the Law Insists on It
Europe Building a Post-Car Future
While the United States mobilizes to transition to electric cars, cities and countries in Europe are transitioning to fewer cars.
The 85th Percentile Rule, Explained
A video explainer of the notorious traffic law that explains why some cities have to raise speed limits to enforce traffic safety.
Baltimore Approves Complete Streets Ordinance
Complete streets supporters see multiple benefits from prioritizing non-automobile users of the public right of way.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
US buildings threatened, destroyed by fires set to triple by 2060
Researchers found a high fire risk for socioeconomically vulnerable neighborhoods in the American West.
LA residents may be allowed to paint their own crosswalks
Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky put out a motion instructing the Los Angeles Department of Public Transportation to study the feasibility of allowing volunteers to paint crosswalks.
Dallas moves to overhaul its zoning code
The city's zoning reform will allow more multi-family and mixed-use developments.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority