Zoning
A Plea For a Pub in Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker is talking about reforming the city's longstanding restrictions on alcohol. Writer Luke Garrett puts in his pitch for relaxed zoning to allow an old-fashioned pub in his neighborhood.
Entering the 'Maze of Zoning'
In Virginia Beach, VA, homeowner Herbert Harris was told that the wheelchair ramp and extra bedroom he was building for his wife and ill daughter needed building permits. Thus began a trip down the rabbit hole of the Board of Zoning Appeals.
Buffalo Adopting SmartCode
Commissioner of Economic Development Brian Reilly makes the case to overhaul the city's 1951 zoning ordinance to a form-based SmartCode.
Blocked Church Expansion into Greenbelt Challenged
Church officials in Ventura County, California, are challenging a decision barring them from expanding into protected open space, arguing that federal law allows them exemptions from zoning controls.
Is Houston Really Unplanned?
Stephen Smith at Market Urbanism looks at the truth behind the cliché, and finds that while Houston does not have Euclidean zoning, it does have more unconventional means of controlling land use beyond the invisible hand of the free market.
Zoning Out Bikini Car Washes
San Antonio's city council attempts to make it harder for bikini carwashes to attract oglers by forcing them to accept a new zoning category.
A Planner's Prayer
A PLANNER’S PRAYER Next week, Jews around the world (including myself) will spend the day in synagogue for Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement. On that day, we will pray for forgiveness for our sins. One Yom Kippur prayer, the Al Chet (Hebrew for “for the sin”) lists a variety of sins, requesting Divine forgiveness for each. (One English translation can be found at www.chabad.org/holidays/JewishNewYear/template_cdo/aid/6577/jewish/Text-of-Al-Chet.htm )
Rule-Bending Keeps Fresno Sprawling
Despite a 2002 General Plan update aimed at curbing sprawl in the Central California city of Fresno, repeated zoning amendments have allowed hundreds of developments to push the city's edge farther out into the fringe.
Should the Internet Replace Newspapers for Public Notices?
In thousands of planning and zoning laws across the nation, official announcements are required to be published in the local newspaper of "general circulation." In an era of newspaper decline and expanding diversity of media, are these laws becoming obsolete? Furthermore, should we be concerned with newspapers at all if a newer, more universally accessible medium is available: the Internet? A variety of announcements are legally required to be published in a local periodical of "general circulation," sometimes in addition to being published in an official government gazette. The practice entered the planning world through the U.S. Department of Commerce's highly influential standard zoning and planning enabling acts.
Should we use zoning to preserve manufacturing?
Deindustrialization has wreaked havoc across many American cities and towns. One only need visit the landscape of the rust belt, places like Buffalo, Detroit or Flint, Michigan to get a sense how damaging this transformation can be. Behind the ugly ruins of abandoned factories and shuttered stores are the lives of real people who have suffered. Manufacturing provided jobs, good paying ones at that, that helped create a blue collar middle class.
The Anti-Zoning Attitude of Palin's Hometown
VP hopeful Sarah Palin's hometown of Wasilla, Alaska is proud of its anti-government attitude and anything goes climate for building and planning.
Friday Funny: SeXXXercise Thwarted
The ACLU is helping a woman in Pittsburgh sue the city for violating her right of free expression. The city denied her occupancy permit to open a pole-dancing studio, teaching classes in "power lap dance" and "seXXXercise".
Condo Towers Force Out Remaining Industries in NYC
A new round of zoning changes in NYC could mean the loss of over 20% of industrial-zoned land in the city.
Mayor Shuts Down Little Girls' Produce Stand
Katie and Sabrina Lewis of Clayton, CA have inadvertently gotten tied up in a political mess of zoning and commercial uses by selling produce from their family garden at a stand in front of their house.
Forget Coffeehouses- Businesses Want Freeways, Labor, Energy
Manufacturing still matters, and what manufacturers want hasn't changed much. The question is whether a "new economy" state like California can compete in the old economy.
Hard to Change Houston's Rep as Nation's Worst Recycler
As the worst recycler amongst the 30 largest American cities, Houston has a lot of trash on its hands. But many obstacles stand in the way of the city closing the loop.
New Crematory Evades City Planners
City officials in Snellville, near Atlanta, claim they cannot stop the pending arrival of a new crematorium along a busy street and near homes.
Should Public Meetings Offer Translation?
Rezoning in New York's Lower East Side brings the issue of language to the fore, as members of the Spanish and Chinese communities find themselves unable to participate in important decisions about their neighborhoods.
Learning from exam schools
Yesterday’s Washington Post contained a list of elite public schools- schools where the average student SAT is over 1300. Since suburban schools generally have better reputations than urban schools, one might expect that all the schools on the list would be in prestigious suburban school districts. But in fact, this is not the case. Three New York City schools (Stuyvestant, Hunter College, Bronx High) and one school near downtown Richmond (Maggie Walker) are on the high-SAT list- despite the fact that the New York City and Richmond school districts, like nearly all urban school districts, have mediocre reputations.
Zoning Squashes Wedding Plans
Heather Stewart's vision of a country wedding in a resorted country barn are thwarted by code enforcement officers at the last minute. 'We have zoning rules and building codes that always get in the way of dreams,' Reinsborough said.
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.
Central Transportation Planning Staff/Boston Region MPO
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
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
