Zoning Reform
Op-Ed: Tampa Bay Needs More, Denser Housing
With rents skyrocketing and the region facing a steep housing shortage, housing advocates argue now is the time for zoning reform that encourages missing middle housing and transit-oriented development.
Zoning Has Support for Sprawl: Subdivision, Covenants, and Mortgages
Zoning codes are not the only kind of land use control that has built the U.S. residential market on the suburban model for more than a century, according to a recent article in The Urbanist.
Report: Wisconsin Zoning Rules Hold Back Housing Production
Updating zoning regulations would help the state meet its housing goals and encourage the construction of a broader variety of housing types.
New York Governor Takes a YIMBY Turn
Governor Kathy Hochul wants to build 800,000 new homes in New York in the next decade.
NYC Mayor Proposes Office Conversion Plan
Proposed zoning updates that would make it easier to convert office buildings in commercial districts to housing and other uses could yield up to 20,000 new housing units in the next decade.
City Council Controversy Threatens L.A.’s Proposed Downtown Plan
A Los Angeles Times editorial explains how political intrigue is spilling over into planning frustration in the city of Los Angeles.
Zoning Reform: New Politics, Same Old Challenges
The political will for zoning reforms has never been stronger. The traditional opponents of development, however, are still finding ways to push back.
How Zoning Changes Could Boost Housing Supply in Seattle
The Puget Sound region could benefit from zoning tweaks that would encourage more transit-oriented development and ‘gentle’ density increases, new research finds.
Federal Grants to Fund Zoning Reform Efforts
The ‘Yes In My Backyard’ grants are designed to help cities identify the most effective avenues for increasing density and spurring more housing construction in historically reluctant neighborhoods.
L.A. Planning Department Adjusts to State Housing Laws
Los Angeles Director of Planning Vince Bertoni was recently interviewed the effects of new state planning and housing laws in the state’s most populous city.
Congressional Spending Bill Includes First Ever Federal ‘YIMBY’ Grant Program
The $1.7 trillion spending bill approved by Congress earlier in December includes a significant first: $85 million in discretionary grant funding for local governments to remove obstacles to housing development.
Planning in 2022: Year in Review
A review of the major themes, debates, and events of the year in planning that was 2022 (part one of two).
The Role of Language in the Battle Over Zoning Reform
Missing middle housing? Ending single-family zoning? How language impacts public opinion in the movement to increase housing density.
Parking Reform for Affordable Housing Production
The Regional Plan Association published “Parking Policy Is Housing Policy: How Reducing Parking Requirements Stimulates Affordable Housing Production.”
When Zoning Reform Isn’t Enough: How To Boost Missing Middle Housing
For upzoning efforts to result in a significant rise in new housing units, cities and states must do more than just change zoning codes to ensure missing middle housing is easy and affordable to build.
The Misperceptions Restricting the Housing Supply
How local attitudes toward zoning reform hinder efforts to boost housing production.
The Top Urban Planning Books of 2022
An annual list of the must-read books related to urban planning and its intersecting fields.
Anchorage Eliminates Parking Requirements Citywide
Anchorage is the latest city to enact sweeping parking reforms, in another blow to the car-centric status quo of planning.
Alexandria Could Undertake Major Zoning Reform
The city is developing a plan to address housing affordability and equity and encourage more housing production.
Nashville Sets Downtown Parking Maximums
Nashville is the latest city to enact a substantive change to the parking requirements set by the city’s zoning code—doing away with parking minimums and setting parking maximums in the city’s Urban Zoning Overlay.
Placer County
City of Morganton
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Dongguan Binhaiwan Bay Area Management Committee
City of Waukesha, WI
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
Indiana Borough
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.
