Zoning

How 'Zoned Capacity' Skews the Debate About Housing
Zoned capacity is often as a statistic to support anti-development arguments. One write endeavors to thoroughly debunk the idea that Seattle has enough zoned capacity to meet its growing demand for housing.

Denver to Offer New Transit Oriented Height Bonuses for Affordable Housing
The city of Denver is going all in for incentive zoning to ensure affordable housing is included among new developments in the neighborhood around the new 38th and Blake transit station.

Lack of Zoning Leaves Houston Neighborhoods Vulnerable to Pollution
Houston doesn't compare well with other cities when it comes to locating polluting industrial uses near residential neighborhoods. Blame the city's lack of zoning, according to new research.
Zoning Serves Communitarian Interests, Too
Zoning isn’t just a tool of self interest, according to a recent polemic by USC planning professor Lisa Schweitzer.

How a Cartoon Enabled Meaningful Parking Reform in Ottawa
Want parking reform without tears?

D.C.'s Comprehensive Zoning Update Takes Effect
After nine years of controversy, the District's first zoning revamp since 1958 is officially on the books.
Group Living Challenges Single-Family Norms, and That's Okay
Faced with a national housing crisis, it's time for cities to stop letting social mores dictate who can live where.

Mapping L.A.'s Zoning Changes Finds Little Room for Upzoning
A new study makes a visual case against the narrative that spot zoning and a broken development approval process are running roughshod over the entire city.

Los Angeles' Neighborhood Integrity Initiative Presents Demands to City Leaders
Last week, leaders of the initiative to curb development in L.A. surprisingly presented Mayor Eric Garcetti with an ultimatum: Agree to their list of demands by August 24, or they will take the issue to the March 2017 ballot.

Neighborhoods Push for Benefits in New York Zoning Plan
The Brooklyn neighborhood of Gowanus was recently added to Mayor de Blasio’s sweeping zoning reform plan. But Gowanus also has plans of its own.

Department of Justice Steps in to Halt Religious Discrimination Through Zoning
As the U.S. Department of Justice takes action to protect the religious freedoms of Muslims in the United States, zoning decisions have proven a particularly common source of anxiety among Muslim communities.

Bloomington Allows Artisanal Production in Retail Zones
Craft beer aficionados take note. Bloomington, Illinois now allows businesses selling artisanal products to manufacture their goods on-site. The ruling blurs a distinction between industrial and commercial zoning.

Reexamining the Origins of Zoning
According to Seymour Toll's 1969 book, New York City's 1916 zoning code was less a civic-minded project than an attempt to protect elite retail districts from the riff-raff. The ramifications for American zoning at large are significant.
8 Ways Exclusionary Zoning Hurts Cities
The Sightline Institute tackles what may be "our most acute urban public policy challenge."

Barriers to Integration Come Down Slowly in Wealthy, White Suburban Enclaves
Beware of possible code words like "character" and "flavor" when it comes to community resistance to multifamily housing or increased density. Case in point, Garden City, Long Island.
Artists Plan a Mini Golf Course to Teach About Zoning and Gentrification
An art installation called "The Back 9" is planned for Los Angeles' Skid Row to tackle the issues of gentrification, zoning, and back room deals for development rights.

Looking for Housing Solutions? Look to the Past
The development of Portland during the early decades of the 1900s reveals ideas for how to lessen the pressure on housing prices in the 2010s.
Los Angeles' Plan to Keep 'Bootleg' Units Affordable
Los Angeles is moving toward creating a path to amnesty and affordability for habitable, but unpermitted residential units.

The Neighborhood Veto and the 'Missing Middle'
Community resistance may explain why smaller apartment buildings are hard to build.
New York Eliminates Some Parking Requirements in 'Transit Zones'
In a substantial part of the city, parking requirements will be eliminated for subsidized and senior housing.
Pagination
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.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
Ada County Highway District
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
Salt Lake City
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service