Zoning needs a complete rethink.
American Planning Association might be coming around!
Is zoning redeemable?
I have a love/hate relationship with zoning. That is, I love to bash zoning for its awful outcomes and I hate when experts give zoning a free pass.
Planners get in a tizzy online when I post any negative commentary about zoning. Probably because it’s such a foundational part of central planning. The authority knows what’s best for citizens, so follow the rules. It’s why Jane Jacobs so famously fought against planning as a profession.
A recent APA blog post included this zinger:
Segregationists sat on the very committee that developed the State Standard Zoning Enabling Act, a piece of legislation that is foundational to zoning and land use regulation in the United States.
You might ask yourself some questions based on that information:
Did a racist mindset have anything to do with developing the State Standard Zoning Enabling Act, or did they just happen to support separated land uses?
If compact development is good for the economy and the environment, then why should zoning limit density?
What trade-offs would communities experience with and without zoning?
I’m not interested in knocking over planning tools for the sake of controversy. But I am very interested in exploring the impacts – good and bad – of land use regulations. These are rules that impact everyone.
“Planners can be champions for local change.”
I was pleasantly surprised by this American Planning Association tweet. This is, after all, the organization that empowers planning experts to use zoning as a tool to control land use.
Imagine if APA members put the following snippet in the executive summary of every zoning document, comprehensive plan, and development review:
Zoning laws are limiting opportunities, reinforcing segregation, driving up the cost of housing, and unfairly favoring single family, low-density housing.
That’s a warning label that directly contradicts the content of standard planning documents – that zoning laws are good, actually.
You should feel the urge to facepalm right now. The industry that praises compact development outlawed compact development.
Intellectual curiosity is an appetite to learn more by asking deeper questions. It requires a level of humility because you may discover evidence that you’re wrong about a thing. Intellectual curiosity is an absolute necessity for planners who want to be champions for local change.
Zoning is widespread because zoning is easy. Maybe the next APA Planner of the Year award should go to someone who asked deeper questions, figured out some viable reforms, and took on the difficult task of unraveling local segregation rules.