Anchorage Considering Consolidation of Residential Districts

If changes to Title 21 of the city’s municipal code are approved, Anchorage could go from having 15 types of residential zoning to one.

2 minute read

August 9, 2023, 12:00 PM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


An aerial view of the Anchorage metropolitan area shows sprawling development surrounded by tall mountains.

Karel Stipek / Shutterstock

The Anchorage Assembly, fresh off ADU reforms and the elimination of parking requirements, are considering changes to the city’s residential zoning code that would consolidate zoning districts and make it easier to build multi-family housing in residential zones.

According to an article by Zachariah Hughes, elected officials have proposed changes to the city’s Title 21, the section of municipal code that governs residential zoning, to better realize the city’s long-term development goals, as expressed in the city’s 2040 Land Use Plan, adopted in 2017.

“[Assemblymember Kevin] Cross pointed out that many of the residential building codes in Title 21 are from a drastically different economic era, when high-paid oil and gas jobs drove development toward large single-family houses on big lots,” reports Hughes. “The latest proposal from Cross and his cosponsors states that demographic projections for Anchorage anticipate more aging households, families with fewer children, ‘diverse households and income levels that need more affordable housing options and more transportation choices,’ more multigenerational families and a less transient workforce.”

Hughes is reporting on the proposed reforms after Cross reduced the scope of the reforms from an original proposition.

“The original version of the measure from Cross and Assembly Vice Chair Meg Zaletel, who represents Midtown, proposed eliminating distinctions among the 15 different residential zoning district criteria in the municipality and replacing the complicated jumble with two broad categories,” according to Hughes. “The new version ‘further simplifies the proposal by creating a single residential zone, effective January 1, 2025,’ the Assembly members said in a statement.”

As also noted by Hughes, the proposal will not change zoning in business districts, the downtown district, or industrial districts in the city.

Thursday, August 3, 2023 in Alaska Journal of Commerce

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Use Code 25for25 at checkout for 25% off an annual plan!

Redlining map of Oakland and Berkeley.

Rethinking Redlining

For decades we have blamed 100-year-old maps for the patterns of spatial racial inequity that persist in American cities today. An esteemed researcher says: we’ve got it all wrong.

May 15, 2025 - Alan Mallach

Interior of Place Versailles mall in Montreal, Canada.

Montreal Mall to Become 6,000 Housing Units

Place Versailles will be transformed into a mixed-use complex over the next 25 years.

May 22, 2025 - CBC

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

May 21, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Flat modern glass office tower with "County of Santa Clara" sign.

Santa Clara County Dedicates Over $28M to Affordable Housing

The county is funding over 600 new affordable housing units via revenue from a 2016 bond measure.

May 23 - San Francisco Chronicle

Aerial view of dense urban center with lines indicating smart city concept.

Why a Failed ‘Smart City’ Is Still Relevant

A Google-backed proposal to turn an underused section of Toronto waterfront into a tech hub holds relevant lessons about privacy and data.

May 23 - Governing

Pale yellow Sears kit house with red tile roof in Sylva, North Carolina.

When Sears Pioneered Modular Housing

Kit homes sold in catalogs like Sears and Montgomery Ward made homeownership affordable for midcentury Americans.

May 23 - The Daily Yonder