The online tool can help city and state officials understand where zoning codes need reform and how they compare to other localities.
The National Zoning Atlas, a project that seeks to help citizens and policymakers understand the zoning landscape in their areas, is expanding its reach rapidly, reports Elizabeth Daigneau in Route Fifty.
“Last week, the project announced the launch of the Arizona Zoning Atlas. Roughly 36 states have been mapped, some in their entirety and others just in certain metro areas or jurisdictions.” Data is almost complete for New Mexico and Nevada, with metro areas in the works in Colorado, New York, and North Carolina.
The project lets viewers compare zoning codes and access data about lot sizes, parking requirements, and other regulations. Vermont, the state with the largest average lot size at 1.8 acres, used the atlas maps to highlight the need for reduced lot sizes. “State officials used the Vermont Zoning Atlas to show residents how most Vermont towns disappear from the map when a user selects for areas where single-family homes are allowed on lots less than one-quarter acre.”
Read the full story: See how your state uses zoning codes to control land use
How a National Zoning Atlas Can Clarify a Legal Patchwork
A massive effort is underway to compile local zoning regulations and other laws that impact how and where housing is built.
National Zoning Atlas Makes Headway
The project aims to bring zoning data from around the country into one database, making it easier for planners and researchers to compare policies and their impacts.
San Diego wants to limit upzoning law to just 16% of transit-adjacent parcels
The city's planning director says some areas are unfit for immediate upzoning due to a lack of resources or hazards such as wildfire risk.
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.
Chicago breaks ground on $3 billion megadevelopment
The new neighborhood, titled Foundry Park, will one day host 3,700 residences.
Satanic place names
From streams and lakes to valleys and canyons, I mapped more than 1,000 places named after the Devil.
California High-Speed Rail Authority CEO resigns after $600,000 scandal
Under Ian Choudri, the authority used taxpayer dollars to fund first class flights and trips to nightclubs.
Want to study the Missouri River? Soon, you may need unanimous approval from 10 states
Legislation would require 10 governors’ permission to study or build projects moving water outside the basin.
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