Archive:000/Zoning

Zoning means designating different areas for different purposes. Parts of a city (or town) may be zoned as residential, commercial, or industrial. There are good reasons for doing this, but it can also be done wrong.

Harmful zoning laws

Some suburbs have nothing but houses. People end up having to drive excessively just for basic things like groceries, school, work, or recreation. This makes life unnecessarily expensive, and is harmful to the environment. The zoning laws are to blame. See walkability for how this problem can be fixed.

Zoning laws can also cause housing shortages. In some neighborhoods, it would be best to convert some houses into duplexes (see why)There is an increasing number of couples who don't have kids. Many of these couples would like to live in a half-duplex but can't find one - so they end up living in something too small or something too big/expensive.

The overall lack of housing units also raises the cost of living for everyone, and increases homelessness. Converting houses to duplexes is a simple way to increase the number of housing units., but the zoning laws get in the way.

Zoning worth having

Anti-pollution laws

Homes should be away from industrial processes that pollute the air.

• Note: if the pollution consists of environmentally-persistant chemicals that travel far, then ideally the pollution should just be phased out completely.

Historical relevance:

• Some suburbs were originally created for this reason, but evolved into car-dependent systems.
• Heavy polluters have a long history of establishing themselves in poor neighborhoods, or in some cases, poor countries. This has a racial aspect to it too.

Designated buildings

• Noise buildings for people who like to party
• Mess buildings for people who don't want to be pressured by landlords to keep clean

See also

• Housing - main topic