An Argument for the Benefits of Form-Based Codes to Aging Populations

An interview with Joel Russell, executive director of the Form-Based Codes Institute.

1 minute read

February 19, 2015, 1:00 PM PST

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


For the AARP's Livable Communities website, Melissa Stanton sat down with attorney and planner Joel Russell, who last year became the executive director of the Form-Base Codes Institute.

The discussion starts with a discussion of the rise of Euclidean zoning and the dominance of the automobile before switching to the topic of how form-based codes can benefit the "50-plus population."

Here Russell explains that form-based codes are intended to break down traditional divisions in how communities are planned and developed: "The intent is to create places where people can live out their lives from childhood to old age, and can be in the same walkable community, albeit in a different type of housing at different stages of their lives." 

The interview totals five questions and answers. Russell debunks what he describes as seven myths about the impacts of form-based codes. 

Thursday, February 19, 2015 in AARP

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