Zoning is the tool that everyone loves to hate. It may also be the most important and least understood process affecting how US communities shape the lives of their residents.
While almost every community comprehensive plan calls for more affordable, equitable, and sustainable development, zoning is often blamed for preventing that from happening. As US communities face an unprecedented housing affordability crisis, a long history of excluding the poor and disadvantaged from key opportunities, and a continuing climate disaster, zoning needs to change – a lot.
In “An Even Better Way to Zone,” planning expert Donald L. Elliott explains how outdated assumptions about development and unnecessary barriers in our current zoning regulations have contributed to development patterns that are not sustainable, affordable, or equitable to historically disadvantaged populations.
It identifies what types of changes to zoning rules, procedures, and maps could improve outcomes in each of those areas.
