Commercial Zoning

A parking lots and homes sit on a bluff above a large beach on Pacific coast in Southern California.

Meeting Housing Goals by Loosening Commercial Zoning

Torrance, a city on the coast of Southern California in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, recently adopted a zoning overlay that will relax commercial zones to allow more residential development.

August 28, 2023 - The Real Deal

View of the National Biscuit Company Building, 1850 Industrial Street, Los Angeles from the corner of Mateo Street. It has been renovated into lofts, with a restaurant on the ground floor.

Paper Series Sheds Light On Adaptive Reuse

A series of reports from Berkeley's Terner Center assess the potential of commercial-to-residential conversions to help ease the housing crisis.

November 23, 2021 - Terner Center for Housing Innovation

Victoria, British Columbia

Home-Based Businesses Could Save the Post-Pandemic Economy

Seattle's city council considers reducing 'arbitrary' and 'exclusionary' limits on home-based businesses.

March 8, 2021 - The Urbanist

Ground Floor Retail

Developers Want to Skip Ground-Floor Retail Requirements

Minneapolis developers are agitating against the requirements of mixed-use zoning, saying that it's impossible to find a good tenant for ground floor retail these days.

August 12, 2020 - Star Tribune

Seattle Mixed Use Development

What Is Mixed-Use Development?

Long an urban norm, mixed-use neighborhoods fell out of favor in the United States in the automobile age as single-use zoning became common. These days, mixed-use development is back in vogue, but implementation remains a challenge.

February 22, 2020 - Philip Rojc

Manhattan Retail

Op-Ed: SoHo and NoHo Need a Zoning Overhaul

Two SoHo residents argue that outdated zoning holds the Manhattan neighborhoods back, requiring special permits or variances for many current residential and commercial uses.

June 2, 2019 - Crain's Business New York

Minneapolis at Night

Minneapolis Liquor License Restriction Lifted

The city’s "7-acre rule" limited liquor licenses to restaurants in a commercial zone, but a repeal of the ordinance last year means that restaurants across the city can now apply to serve liquor.

January 29, 2019 - Star Tribune

Millennium Tower

S.F.'s Central SoMa Plan Would Add 40,000 Jobs, 7,000 Housing Units

YIMBYs are describing the jobs-housing imbalance represented in the Central SoMa Plan as reminiscent of the housing policies of cities farther down the Peninsula.

April 6, 2018 - BeyondChron

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