Land Use Regulations In 50 Largest U.S. Metro Areas

Local land use regulations help define the character of cities, towns, counties, and entire regions, directly affecting the composition of inhabitants by facilitating or inhibiting rental properties and low-income residents. This comprehensive survey

1 minute read

August 11, 2006, 10:00 AM PDT

By Abhijeet Chavan @http://twitter.com/legalaidtech

Local land use regulations help define the character of cities, towns, counties, and entire regions. Zoning, comprehensive plans, infrastructure control, urban containment, building moratoriums, and permit caps can drive development outward, promote density, or something in between. They can also directly affect the composition of inhabitants by facilitating rental properties and low-income residents, especially when these regulations are coupled with programs to promote housing affordability. This comprehensive survey of local land use regulations finds a wide variety of regulatory regimes in the nation's 50 largest metropolitan areas. They range from exclusionary and restrictive to innovative and accommodating. These produce a variety of effects on metropolitan growth and density, and on the opportunities afforded to the residents that live there.

Thanks to Elena Sheridan

FULL STORY: From Traditional to Reformed: A Review of the Land Use Regulations in the Nation's 50 largest Metropolitan Areas

Thursday, August 10, 2006 in The Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program

Land Use United States

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

Get top-rated, practical training

Start Learning

Advertise with us

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.