Zoning Reform
Parking prices, toll lanes, and tickets to a ballgame can be dynamic, with prices fluctuating depending on market conditions. What if zoning could change when triggered by demographic and market conditions?
Strong Towns
A call for civility amid the great zoning debate in Austin, Texas.
KUT
A companion bill to the controversial SB 827, also introduced Sen. Scott Wiener (D-S.F)., could have a similar impact on housing production but hasn't gathered nearly as much attention. SB 828 makes critical changes to the state's housing supply law.
Los Angeles Times
The city of Lexington, Kentucky recently amended its B-6P zone, which regulates "Planned Shopping Centers."
Strong Towns
CodeNEXT is one of the most ambitious, and controversial, zoning reform projects ongoing in the country, with lessons to offer planners all over the country in code writing, public outreach, and planning outcomes.
CodeNEXT
A statewide zoning reform bill that made it part of the way through the Massachusetts State Legislature in 2016 is back up for consideration this year.
The Boston Globe
Few cities have gone so far in considering drastic changes to single-family zoning as Seattle did in 2015. Still, the discussion about single-family zoning would have to go a lot further to turn into meaningful reform.
The Urbanist
Most cities know they need new development regulations, but it's much, much easier said than done.
At Lincoln House
As the supply of affordable housing in Gowanus continues to diminish, a new coalition demands that any rezoning plan fill the gaps.
The Real Deal
Earlier this week, Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan sent a draft of the city's new Unified Sustainable Development Ordinance to the city's Common Council.
Politico New York
The Codes Study is updated! These are the cities that are rewriting their land use laws to promote wellness, economic strength, and environmental resilience.
PlaceShakers
After six years and 242 meetings, Buffalo's Green Code was signed into law Tuesday. The Green Code is the first rewrite of the city's zoning ordinance since 1953, and one of only three citywide form-based codes implemented in North America.
The Buffalo News
The Buffalo Common Council is expected to approve a highly anticipated overhaul of its zoning code. Known commonly as the Buffalo Green Code, city planners tout the new code as deliberately contemporary and progressive.
The Buffalo News
The Baltimore City Council granted initial approval for the city's first zoning code overhaul in over 40 years.
The Baltimore Sun
An update to the state's zoning laws—the first update of its kind since 1975—is moving forward through the Massachusetts Legislature.
Urban Liberty
While urbanists target zoning reform to help build more housing in desirable neighborhoods, other neighborhoods around cities are being left behind to languish, according to this opinion piece published by Forbes.
Forbes
The issue of zoning might be a place for wonks of both the conservatives and the liberal variety to find middle ground, but zoning in the real world is more contentious than consensus.
City Observatory
What's keeping the historic parts of your city or town from staying up-to-date and well-loved? Usually, the laws.
PlaceShakers
It often seems that streetscapes' appearances and forms are immutable, but Los Angeles is trying something new. Through a herculean effort called Recode: LA, Los Angeles is rewriting its codes and, consequently, may change how its streets look.
Public CEO
Ryan Briggs reports on the state of the Philadelphia Zoning Board of Adjustment—although zoning reform was a promise of Mayor Michael Nutter's administration, Briggs finds that inconsistency and mysterious politics still mar the board's decisions.
Philadelphia City Paper
