By: Donald L. Elliott

Paperback

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Nearly all large American cities rely on zoning to regulate land use. According to Donald L. Elliott, however, zoning often discourages the very development that bigger cities need and want. In fact, Elliott thinks that zoning has become so complex that it is often dysfunctional and in desperate need of an overhaul. A Better Way to Zone explains precisely what has gone wrong and how it can be fixed.  A Better Way to Zone explores the constitutional and legal framework of zoning, its evolution over the course of the twentieth century, the reasons behind major reform efforts of the past, and the adverse impacts of most current city zoning systems. To unravel what has gone wrong, Elliott identifies several assumptions behind early zoning that no longer hold true, four new land use drivers that have emerged since zoning began, and basic elements of good urban governance that are violated by prevailing forms of zoning. With insight and clarity, Elliott then identifies ten sound principles for change that would avoid these mistakes, produce more livable cities, and make zoning simpler to understand and use. He also proposes five practical steps to get started on the road to zoning reform.

While recent discussion of zoning has focused on how cities should look, A Better Way to Zone does not follow that trend. Although New Urbanist tools, form-based zoning, and the SmartCode are making headlines both within and outside the planning profession, Elliott believes that each has limitations as a general approach to big city zoning. While all three trends include innovations that the profession badly needs, they are sometimes misapplied to situations where they do not work well. In contrast, A Better Way to Zone provides a vision of the future of zoning that is not tied to a particular picture of how cities should look, but is instead based on how cities should operate.

Acknowledgments	p. xi
Introduction	p. 1
A Brief History of Zoning	p. 9
"Euclidean" Zoning	p. 9
Standard Zoning and Planning Enabling Acts	p. 15
Planned Unit Developments	p. 18
Performance Zoning	p. 23
Form-based Zoning	p. 26
The Result: Euclidean Hybrid Zoning	p. 34
Failed Assumptions	p. 39
A Few General Rules Will Do It	p. 39
Separate the Uses	p. 41
Greenfield Standards Are Better	p. 45
Variances Will Be Rare	p. 48
Nonconformities Will Go Away	p. 49
Zoning Rules Need to Be Static	p. 55
Zoning Is a Technical Matter	p. 58
Evolving Land Use Drivers	p. 61
The Enormous Market	p. 64
Tax Limits	p. 71
Transportation Systems	p. 74
Housing Affordability	p. 79
NIMBYism	p. 82
Governing Well	p. 87
Effectiveness	p. 89
Responsiveness	p. 91
Fairness	p. 93
Efficiency	p. 97
Understandability	p. 99
Predictable Flexibility	p. 102
The Legal Framework for Change	p. 105
Due Process	p. 108
Regulatory "Takings" of Property	p. 111
The First Amendment	p. 114
Equal Protection	p. 117
Vested Rights	p. 121
Vagueness	p. 123
Preemption by State and Federal Law	p. 125
What Have We Learned?	p. 129
Eight Lessons	p. 129
Focusing on the Process of Zoning Change	p. 133
A Better Way to Zone	p. 137
More Flexible Uses	p. 140
The Mixed-use Middle	p. 146
Attainable Housing	p. 154
Mature Areas Standards	p. 162
Living with Nonconformities	p. 169
Dynamic Development Standards	p. 176
Negotiated Large Developments	p. 183
Depoliticized Final Approvals	p. 189
Better Webbing	p. 196
Scheduled Maintenance	p. 203
What About the Other Good Ideas?	p. 207
The Way Forward	p. 211
Audit for Specifics	p. 213
Prioritize for Political Will	p. 214
Draft for Integration	p. 216
Illustrate How	p. 217
Adopt the Possible	p. 218
Suggested Reading List	p. 223
Notes	p. 225
Bibliography	p. 231
Index	p. 233
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

ISBN: 9781597261814
ISBN-10: 1597261815
Audience: Professional
Format: Paperback
Language: English
Number Of Pages: 300
Published: 1st March 2008
Publisher: Island Press
Dimensions (cm): 22.9 x 15.2  x 1.3
Weight (kg): 0.349