U.S. Zoning, Explained

[@CityBeautiful]

This is a re-make of a video I did almost exactly 6 years ago! It was the second video on my channel. I redid it because 1) it's popular in classrooms but increasingly out of date; and 2) I can make better videos now. Don't worry, I haven't run out of new video ideas. :)

[@hyun-shik7327]

Nice. Thank you for updating your stuff. All too many creators cover the most basic stuff first, and never update their old stuff.

[@fiverZ]

How does one use 100 blades in a year? Isn't that like a blade used every 3-4 days? wtf

[@alexsimm]

How do you make your map animations!? I love how clean and simple they are.

[@pearlywhiteteeth]

Just playing The Hits.

[@Dominik-K]

Really liked this update. Remaking a video and updating it, isn't bad. I think this topic is one of the most evergreen topics ever, nicely done video

[@AlexPacker]

As a British kid playing Sim City, I thought the zoning was just a game mechanism because it would be too complicated to have mixed use buildings. No, that's how basically the whole US is. I didn't understand it until I had visited

[@Nedlius]

yeah it sucks As someone who was born and raised in the US, I'm looking to start some sort of career outside of the US once I graduate university. There are other places that were more practically designed than the US, and I want to live in one of those places.

[@Labyrinth6000]

@@Nedliuswell leave than, I like the zoning

[@hobog]

You can mod mixed-use lots into Cities Skylines

[@Nedlius]

@@Labyrinth6000 yes as you can see in my message, I'm going to leave, thanks for re-stating that. Why do you like US zoning?

[@nathanford2686]

@@Labyrinth6000 you like the lack of connectivity?

[@repoilify]

Just imagine how many homes, restaurants, jobs, stores, parks and schools we could fit in a Costco parking lot.

[@FrothyMeanV2]

Literally could fit a whole community with anything they would need on a daily basis in these lots.

[@blabla-rg7ky]

you're not allowed to imagine it, because Costco needs all of the money and power, you can go to hell in what Costco is concerned. Only Costco and other rich, powerful organizations need to be allowed to live, everyone else can drop dead

[@ChaoticNeutralMatt]

Honestly a good chuck.

[@amouryf]

A whole city lol...

[@familykaplan1341]

Yes, though Costco has redeeming qualities. Wal-Marts could fit those other things in too.

[@yogtheterrible]

This video is a pretty good demonstration of why Saruman was defeated. Orthanc was zoned for Residential and Institutional as the chart confirms, but his forges obviously weren't permitted in either residential or institutional. What's more, Saruman destroyed nearby open spaces by using the trees to feed those forges. This caused the council members of the local municipality, Fangorn Forest, to meet and order the destruction of the forges and the forfeiture of Orthanc. You really have to follow zoning, everyone.

[@miguelfranciscomaticorenaq2089]

HAHAHAHHAHAHAA

[@ScottAtwood]

Can you talk about Japan’s zoning system at some point? It is a fascinating and in my opinion, highly successful alternative to North American exclusive zoning.

[@Nedlius]

I would love to see a video like that

[@GroovyAsians]

The channel Life Where I'm From has a great video about zoning in Japan!

[@Amir-jn5mo]

+1 from me. Japan does zoning best. One national zoning code for the entire country and it doesnt discriminate for "character of the neighbourhood" or having low pollution commercial or industrial uses close to homes. Life Where I'm From made an amazing video on this topic. Apparently they had a crazy housing bubble in 1970-80's and the Federal gov steps in to fix the issue by making zoning be one federal standard.

[@Hyperventilacion]

@@littlekirby6 I think the language difference is too big to understand the documents needed to have a more comprehensive video, it can work if City Beautiful get's help of a japanese researcher or youtuber doing similar videos.

[@Jay_in_Japan]

Japan's zoning, summarized: "Is that a 1,000 year old temple?" "Yeah" "Next to the municipal gov't skyscraper?" "Yeah" "And an apartment block, all in the shopping district?" "Yeah" **repeat for whole country**

[@venkate5hgunda]

I am from India where zoning laws are almost non-existent, or rather nobody gives a care to follow it. In my observation, every community slowly evolved to be a mixed-use, some with few office spaces and commercial units, some with one or two industries and housing for the workers and others with mostly mixed commercial and residential spaces. It is more chaotic but much more sensible as anything you need is a couple minutes walking distance away.

[@antonsofronov8958]

Same in Ukraine, chaotic but convenient

[@ilghiz]

It seems that there only needs to be two zones: industrial, with all its smoke and noise, and mixed residential-comercial. Even this division might become obsolete if factories become perfectly green.

[@raylopez99]

A study once showed that with zoning and without zoning a city ends up looking about the same. The difference is that zoning creates more expense, more bureaucracy. BTW that includes "private zoning" like homeowners association agreements.

[@Homer-OJ-Simpson]

@@raylopez99 I want to believe it ends up the same but looking at the difference between US/Canada and say Europe or Japan will lead me to believe it doesn’t all end up the same.

[@raylopez99]

@@Homer-OJ-Simpson Well. living in a part of the south EU where they have less strict zoning than the USA, and I have property in both areas, I find the density of the EU is higher than in the USA, simply due to geographic factors. So by and large zoning is just another hoop to jump through, does nothing but aggravate people.

[@yuriydee]

I always find it so ironic how a country that prides itself soooo much on personal freedom has so many laws that prohibit personal freedoms....

[@soundscape26]

I got myself thinking on that as well.

[@mytimetravellingdog]

Discovering HOAs exist in America blew my mind.

[@AssBlasster]

We're even taking away rights, like abortion, at this point. Blue states are the only ones acknowledging some basic freedoms anymore

[@ilghiz]

Thanks man, I've been thinking about it for quite a long time and you have given my thoughts a perfect wording.

[@putra4101]

Hey, at least you get the gun.

[@Red_Ryan_Red]

I really hope more people in the states can understand why the zoning here is so restrictive and detrimental. I wish local governments could just copy more functional zoning regulations from another country.

[@waedidmyhandlechange]

Japan comes to mind where mixed-use zoning is widespread and actually allows for the creation of lively neighborhoods with great walkability.

[@jonnyhawt8973]

1930s Germany. Excellent Infrastructure. They are the Standard.

[@WhoIsJohnGaltt]

Maybe you should question whether zoning is moral in the first place

[@Labyrinth6000]

We do not care about the opinions of other countries. I wish people outside of America to stop telling us how to live.

[@bruhbutwhytho]

​@@Labyrinth6000bruh we can learn from other countries.

[@nitehawk86]

6:27 Pittsburgh's Strip District is a great example of an industrial district that was changed into commercial, then into residential.

[@StLouis-yu9iz]

Are there any plans to reactivate that rail line running through there for passenger use? :] Thanks for sharing btw.

[@JCMik5646]

@@StLouis-yu9iz It's been studied in the past, but there are no active plans that I know of.

[@StLouis-yu9iz]

@@JCMik5646 Sounds like a great project for Pittsburgh urbanists to coalesce around then! :]

[@AnymMusic]

When you thought City Skylines simplified the zoning system for players, but it turns out nope... it really is THIS simplified and overlooked

[@ClementinesmWTF]

What’re you talking about? SimCity and CS simplified it so much that that’s one of the major complaints by players

[@erkinalp]

​@@ClementinesmWTF Yeah C:S is simpler than the actual US zoning.

[@arthurwintersight7868]

@@erkinalp - Not by much, unfortunately.

[@Bobspineable]

Thats a game though, you have simplify for gameplay purposes

[@j0nm055]

I'm surprised Orthanc is allowed in lower density residential areas. I would have thought it would violate height restrictions.

[@ThePoopantsPlayers]

They allowed Orthanc in my neighborhood as a kid. Some weirdos moved in and proclaimed the time of the orc had come. I had no choice but to move out 😢.

[@pongop]

Lol true! Plus Orthanc further violated zoning restrictions when it added an industrial area to its residential facilities, not to mentioni violating the protected open space.

[@pongop]

@@ThePoopantsPlayers Lol

[@brianfong5711]

So is hobbiton the low density suburb of middle earth?

[@craiggersify]

Things got a little more flexible with Wormtongue on the zoning board

[@Br3ttM]

You left out a major point when talking about the bad side of zoning, and that is property prices skyrocketing. And that is the _goal_ of a lot of zoning in the US. Home owners tell local governments to ban apartments near them to "protect their property values", but the reason apartments lower property values has a lot more to do with supply and demand than apartments being a blight on the area. It's artificial scarcity. With regular home owners greatly outnumbering people who own other kinds of property, and having more financial stake than renters, they dominate local politics when it comes to land use, and use that power to increase the value of their "investment". I see many people on the internet complain about greedy landlords, or investment firms and foreign individuals buying houses as investment, but that stuff in minor compared to the extremely limited supply caused by the fact that most residential land is zoned for low density residential, with even duplexes banned in most areas.

[@jesssbe5point7]

this is a really good comment, how bad does a residential area get affected when turned into a r3??? from r1 to r3

[@timothydavis8388]

Houston’s zoning laws always interested me… particularly when I showed up to a church next to a sewage processing facility

[@Maxime_K-G]

No, way. I just looked up your video about European zoning today since we were learning about zoning in college.

[@twestgard2]

Step one: find out what poor people want to do. Step two: ban those things.

[@vodkaboy]

contemporary gentrification in city centers (at least in Europe) is that dynamic going full circle lol

[@youtindia]

How US Zoning Works Answer: It doesn't

[@Sam_FIFA]

Still better than India LOL

[@iQKyyR3K]

@@Sam_FIFA And a lot worse than Germany, France, the Netherlands etc.

[@Labyrinth6000]

I prefer to live in exclusive neighborhoods than the city streets with crime folk.

[@Labyrinth6000]

@@iQKyyR3Kwe don’t care about their opinions, stay on their side of the pond.

[@barontuna]

@@Labyrinth6000 one of the reason cities are so shit in the US are these zoning laws

[@dukeofcreepington5605]

I live in an area that's currently in a severe drought. This is the primary reason people give besides "Keeping the small town feel" of my small town when arguing against medium density/mixed use development. Would love to see a video on how housing density/usage affects water usage. I also often see that these videos are oriented towards cities and leave out rural America. I would really love a video dedicated to why small town America doesn't need to be car centric

[@alexsmith-ob3lu]

Many small towns below 15k population have been abandoned after WW2. Many people have been displaced into suburbs, inner cities, farms, isolated gas stations, and car mechanic shops to earn their bread. Passenger railways have either been demolished or converted over to freight rails, so that’s another reason why townships are so car centric. Difficult to say what will happen in the future, as most of our infrastructure systems fall apart, interest on decades long debt accumulates more, and we have less skilled tradesmen to do the heavy lifting. We’re basically living in a century of decline.

[@nicokelly6453]

Large lot size requirements in low density housing often means that people use way too much extra water trying to keep their yards green.

[@Indigolily80]

​​@@nicokelly6453 people on the east coast/ southeast have little need to water their lawns. We have plenty of annual rainfall that keeps grass green for most of the year. Some grass may brown in the winter.

[@jatsko3113]

If anything, I'd think that areas that live in desert/drought conditions are more fitted to contract and limit sprawl by necessity, no?

[@dukeofcreepington5605]

@@jatsko3113 People refuse to believe that their way of life (sprawling suburbs) are contributing as much to the drought as it is. My town has tried limiting water usage, but it's more of a suggestion than anything. They don't want denser living "ruining their picturesque downtown" which draws in millions of dollars in tourism every year. My city council also somehow let two (250 homes total) subdivisions be built on the fringe of our city limits, which completely baffles me as I've heard them quote water shortages as their primary reason for not allowing denser living.

[@DMaC02121]

As a freshly minted urban planner, this is the best breakdown of zoning I've ever heard/seen. Will make my rezoning/application work so much easier now.

[@Amir-jn5mo]

Can you do a video on how Japan does zoning cause I think they do it far better. One national zoning code for the entire country and it doesnt discriminate for "character of the neighbourhood" or having low pollution commercial or industrial uses close to homes. Life Where I'm From made an amazing video on this topic. Apparently they had a crazy housing bubble in 1970-80's and the Federal gov steps in to fix the issue by making zoning be one federal standard. One amazing side-effect of Japanese zoning is also the architectiual freedom in designing buildings. You can find all kinds of crazy building forms in Japan due to lack of arbitrary setbacks, heights and angle rules. This results in the highest number of architects per capita in Japan compared to any other G7 country.

[@mytimetravellingdog]

part of the number is probably as much or more to do with the fact Japan has a very odd habit of demolishing homes when someone new buys a property. It's really wasteful as often just doesn't need to be done. Whereas int he west, the UK and north America at least, we do not demolish enough old low quality housing stock. I'm all for implementing japanese zoning (paticularly in the UK where it would really address the major issues of total endless nimbyism) but one thing japan is terrible at is historic preservation. That's the biggest area of improvmenet there is to make with Japanese zoning.

[@Amir-jn5mo]

@@mytimetravellingdog thats also historical and has to do with the way the gov subsidized housing back in 1980s. The old houses deteriorated quickly due to lack of earthquake resilience. They basically made it so your house was worthless after 30 years so it created this societal expectation. Also they dont consider housing as an investment. They treat it as any other basic need. highly recommend you watch the Life Where I'm from video regarding this.

[@kyihko]

As someone studying spatial planning in Germany, I'm glad to have our system. It's much more diverse, and allows almost every type of mixed uses, under the right conditions. Every type of area includes a list of uses, which are either generally permissible or exceptionally permitted, making it much more flexible. Here's a list for everyone who is interested :) small settlement area (Kleinsiedlungsgebiete: mainly community gardens or "Kleingärten" in German) purely residential areas (reine Wohngebiete: most similar to what you can find in the US; was only really used until the 80s) general residential areas (allgemeine Wohngebiete: can include 'non-disturbing commercial uses') special residential areas (besondere Wohngebiete: mixed use of residential and other uses, but mostly residential; e.g. quarters with 19th/early 20th century buildings) village areas (Dorfgebiete) mixed areas (Mischgebiete: 50/50 mix of residential and commercial uses) urban areas (Urbane Gebiete: higher density than mixed areas + different ratios possible) central areas (Kerngebiete: city center; mainly offices or shopping areas) commercial areas (Gewerbegebiete) industrial areas (Industriegebiete) special areas (Sondergebiete: incl. hospitals, public buildings, power plants, hotels etc.; everything that doesn't belong to one of the others)

[@SBKWaffles]

This is in line with many zoning codes in the US BTW

[@erkinalp]

​@@SBKWaffles Except US cities seldom have mixed use zones.

[@ezyzet]

Dortmund oder Kaiserslautern?

[@steve19009]

Does the goverment set restrictions of plot ratio to each type of use?

[@rbmomert]

I love the emphasis on how zoning/planning was used to segregate minorities. I doubt many knew it was this explicitly written. I wonder if some part of those policies remain hidden inside current policies and if there is the same segregation in other socially divided countries, for example Mexico

[@Labyrinth6000]

Maybe some people prefer to self segregate by nature, don’t you ever think of that?

[@jamesjesus1828]

​@@Labyrinth6000I've never met someone that chose to be poor (unless they were gambling)

[@gtneal]

​​@@Labyrinth6000 American cities were generally very integrated in the early 1900s. These racial housing covenants mostly came into existence in the 40s and 50s with the rise of the modern suburb. If people all wanted to self-segregate, why didn't they before the racial zoning laws, and why did those guidelines have to be created in the first place?

[@pongop]

@@Labyrinth6000 Redlining

[@iguessishouldntputmynamehe5503]

@@jamesjesus1828nobody chooses to be poor but that’s not what he said.

[@Cameronnp]

I am Korean, Japan and Korea also make land use plans when they make huge new cities. Commercial areas, high-density areas such as apartment condominiums, low-density areas such as houses, and mixed commercial areas. The difference from the United States is that residential and mixed areas also have small zones to build commercial facilities that are essential and convenient for people to live in. For example, a convenience store, a bakery, a small restaurant, a laundry, etc. So you can buy basic necessities without driving. I think it would be good to have these basic amenities in large residential villages in the United States. It can be noisy, so you can set up a zone at the entrance or end of the village and create relevant compliance regulations. ❤

[@underground868]

Steps to Fix American Cities 1)No new single family suburbs 2)Demolish unused parking lots 3)Convert empty big box stores into apartments 4)Increase mixed housing/business zones 5)Local trams along major city streets 6)No cars on certain city streets 7)Redesign roads for more cycling and walking 8)Mass Rail on Highways

[@benjaminsmith3645]

definitely agree, cycling and walking are amazing for people’s health and more cities should be encouraging it as opposed to car dependance

[@sjx.gaming]

All these things just make a city worse, be happy in government forced rules loving Europe. Its US we prefer freedom and make rules for the government unlike the other way around in your dictatorship european countries.

[@poisonpotato1]

How about No

[@HisCarlnessI]

Every time I get one of these random shaving adds I'm like, "who the hell is replacing their blades that regularly?"

[@natbarmore]

I really feel like the thumbnail image should be “How Zoning Doesn’t Work” or “How Zoning Does More Harm Than Good”, to better reflect the situation you’re talking about.

[@UnipornFrumm]

Zoneing also prevents grocery stores and jobs beeing near homes like it was in the past,and now you need to own a car per adult to do anything ouside you house

[@vladvsyarusi3458]

Jobs and grocery stores can never be near homes. It's a soviet-style city planning fantasy. It doesn't work. People need to work where whey are most needed, not where the city planner says they should. And people can not change their homes every time they change a job as some of even modern-day new-urbanists propose.

[@UnipornFrumm]

@Vlad VsyaRusi i litteraly live in an apartment with grocery store at the first storey and i dont see whats the problem with this,i litteraly walk down the stairs and i m at the store to buy food

[@cheflos]

@@vladvsyarusi3458 jobs and grocery stores absolutely should be near homes. The reason why america is so fat is because of how often we need to drive to do anything

[@vladvsyarusi3458]

@@cheflos Every job possible job being near one's house is impossible. Don't fall for this idea, it's been tested in USSR and it doesn't work well even in the most totalitarian systems where the government tells you where to live and where to work and how you are paid. And it is absolutely incomparable with an efficient economy that provides a good standard of living.

[@cheflos]

@@vladvsyarusi3458 I’m not saying every job possible needs to be within walking distance, nor am i saying that the government has to choose your job. What I’m saying is that there should be jobs available within walking distance, especially like ones in grocery stores. People who cant drive due to age or economic factors are effectively immobile in most residential areas of cities and need the help of someone else to drive them. Should an elderly couple have to rely on the assistance of good neighbors to bring them groceries? Or should a teenager who can legally work but can’t legally get their license have to walk two hours to their grocery store bagging job? Many sprawling suburbs don’t have good public transit connections to the city where all the jobs are. Preventing jobs and stores near where people live only serves to isolate us from one another.

[@DutchLabrat]

It is a cultural thing, isn't it? Most Americans don't want shops and hospitality businesses nearby for what they fear it will do to property value while in most of the world nobody would want to live without at least a decent daily food supply and a local in easy reach. And traffic? It is possible to build a small shopping centre with a health centre and a small diner that is not easily reached from the outside so it only serves the local community (Little parking, only on a local road, no big box stores, good pedestrian and cycling access....). Such areas can be profitable without being a nuisance. Another thing is that small business might prefer to be located near a residential zone because you get less break-ins and other crimes.

[@JesusManera]

100%. The fear of what it will do to their property values is completely illogical though. Having walkable amenities ALWAYS (without exception) increases property values. Car dependent suburbs are always the cheapest and poorest areas.

[@RoboJules]

I'll agree with suburbanites that we shouldn't be building high-rise towers right next to single family homes. But how about town houses, row houses, and simplexes on single family lots alongside single family homes. And how about some small local businesses such as cafes and grocery stores to act as anchors in the local neighbourhood accessible within a 5-minute walk. Abolishing single family zoning doesn't mean abolishing single family housing, it's just giving righter densities the right to exist nearby.

[@xandercruz900]

It's the same reason why you dont want someone building a gas station next to your home in the middle of a block of single-family homes. Modify zoning? Sure. But dont act like people give up the right to opposition of whatever some developer wants to plop next to your house.

[@danielkelly2210]

Yeah, a lot of the criticism of zoning reform is overblown. No one is going to put a 10-story apartment building in a low-density neighborhood.

[@234fddesa]

the funniest thing to me is that suburbanites really hate that shit, but the only thing usually separating those types of huge commerical high rises and apartment buildings from their single family homes are like, walmarts, and parking, and really shitty fast food centers and strip malls, and 7 lanes of driving infrastructure. At that point you could honestly put the single family home right next to the super overbuilt high rises, I'd much prefer that.

[@2712animefreak]

@@danielkelly2210 There are places like that, actually. In my city, there are several places where you can see single family houses (though they are different than the American ones) on one side of the street and a row of high-rise apartment blocks on the other.

[@delusionalnoodles]

@@xandercruz900 funnily enough if you were to add those cafes and tiny little grocery shops you’d eliminate the local need for gas stations entirely

[@asphere8]

I lived in Mount Laurel for a few years while attending a nearby high school. It was painful how unwalkable it was. I couldn't get *anywhere* without driving. I moved there from London, Ontario, Canada (yes, the city Not Just Bikes uses as an example for how bad cities can be), and it was incredible how much of a downgrade it was from that.

[@brendanwiley253]

All my homies hate zoning laws, I wanna see a family owned restaurant in the middle of a suburbs

[@JesusManera]

Where I grew up, they are! I can't understand why anybody would oppose having restaurants, cafes or corner stores mixed in with residential streets. There is literally no downside. People's first reaction is sometimes that it will bring traffic... No... Having more options within walking distance will reduce traffic.

[@BluePieNinjaTV]

While the colours might be applicable to US zoning codes, in other countries zoning are coloured differently. For example at least where I am in Australia, residential zoning is pink, commercial is grey, industrial is orange. Cities: Skylines was not developed in the US so I imagine the zoning colours they use are relevant to their home country.

[@doomsdayrabbit4398]

No, because they're the same colors as SimCity classically was. It's just become a standard game colorscheme.

[@elizabethdavis1696]

I wish someone would create a family friendly mixed use zone!

[@TheGreatWasian_]

That would be a dream

[@JesusManera]

They do very much exist outside the US. I grew up in mixed use suburbs that were predominantly (but not exclusively) single family homes, very family friendly with quiet leafy streets, and had extremely low crime, tons of parks, good schools, and all the kids played on the street and ride bikes around. But in my suburb, and the next, and the next, you were never more than a 15 minute walk from a train station and vibrant little shopping street, and the mixed zoning also meant we had things like quaint little cafés, restaurants, video stores and fish n chip shops scattered around the corners of residential streets too. I didn't even bother getting my driver's license until I was 19, I didn't need a car. Yet we lived in a 4 bedroom house on a large block. It baffles me that anybody would oppose relaxing zoning laws to allow that, or "fear" that it would bring crime or reduce property values. My only theory is that those people must be incredibly insular, ignorant or irrationally fearful. The idea that a café opening near a house will bring crime or reduce property values is just ridiculous, it does the opposite. Lively streets are safe, desirable streets and so much better for kids.

[@morgankw89]

Most zoning needs to be done away with aside from keeping hazardous industrial uses away from everything else.

[@benjaminsmith3645]

i agree. keep industrial, and agricultural seperate, but most places are better off mixed use

[@CABOOSEBOB]

One thing I’d like to see with zoning is areas zoned for nature/farmland, where suburbs cannot be built

[@benjaminsmith3645]

i think zoning needs to be simplified a lot. we don’t need so many zones. agricultural, industrial, and mixed use is all we need. make space for farming, don’t build industrial stuff near homes, and that’s it

[@stuvius]

When the country is so free you can't build anything except literally what the government tells you to build, regardless of demand.

[@gabeitch3919]

This is purely american in netherlands there is also zoning but its way more free with different types of homes

[@LTRand]

An awesome follow up to this would be how Japan runs zoning. That would provide a great compare and contrast.

[@ianhomerpura8937]

They only have 13 zones if I remember correctly, and that applies on a national level.

[@WalterKiefer]

The most important needed reform is to fix the colors so that they match those in SimCity :D

[@Snipedog1978]

I have lived in mount laurel Nj for over 7years and I didn’t know any of the zoning rules that were mentioned. It was very interesting to hear

[@NORSKGARDEN]

Local zoning ordinances can and do completely destroy basic freedoms. I live in a community that requires fees to be paid whenever you have a plumber or electrician do work on a home for every $100 the town requires property owner to pay them a fee. Skateboard ramps are not allowed on any private property. Children are not allowed to ride their bikes in the public park and must park the bike at the entrance. It’s insane.

[@Himalay-Cherukuri]

What’s 😂 hilarious is even though you are that rich you need to follow stupid zoning codes which evaluates other people ( neighbour’s) property. What a sham.

[@Labyrinth6000]

I like the zoning laws, gives my house value as opposed to poor areas.

[@Himalay-Cherukuri]

@@Labyrinth6000 yes I agree but now a days some of these zoning laws and HOAs are making people feel Insufferable

[@lipschitzlyapunov]

What I find ridiculous about upzoning is that scummy developers are buying up single family homes for 600k, plopping three townhouses there, and then selling each townhouse for over a million dollars. That's literally what's happening in Seattle and it's so dumb that housing prices are increasing.

[@jmlinden7]

Because the total number of new housing units created is still too low. Doing this does increase the total amount of housing, but only by 2 per parcel. However, if every single house were turned into 3 townhouses each, you'd basically triple the amount of housing, which would go a lot further

[@Labyrinth6000]

Especially coming from the wealthy from abroad specifically China who buy houses and price out the local community. It’s essentially a housing “warfare” against us.

[@nickmonks9563]

Denver, too.

[@kurtniemeyer6314]

@@nickmonks9563 Those kind of developments are only financially make sense when supply is so low and lots are so restricted that the only people that can make money are big box apartments and townhomes. Restricting housing only leads to more of the style of apartments people that already own homes don't like seeing built in their neighborhoods.

[@jamaly77]

If only you had some government regulations. 🤣

[@leedirtybriches]

Houston has entered the chat

[@paveladamek3502]

As a European I am shocked by this system because the things that are "not desirable" in residential neighborhoods in the U.S. are basically the most important thing people in my country are looking for, i.e. "want". Corner stores, kindergartens and elementary schools within walking distance, services… I have my GP within one mile, two pharmacies, three grocery stores and my barber within 5 minutes by bus that goes every ten minutes. And I am in a very walkable suburb.

[@danielkelly2210]

Yeah, Americans march to their own beat. There's lots of demand here for single-family home-only neighborhoods where everything needs to be accessed by car. In most Americans' minds this is a "nice neighborhood" (preferably on a cul-de-sac, too).

[@matthewshultz8762]

@@danielkelly2210 I feel like a lot of it comes down to wanting to be away from the 'hustle and bustle' of the city, or large roads in general. It's like the answer is right there in front, people don't want to live next to huge, busy, loud, and uncrossable roads, but to achieve that within US zoning restrictions, you just have to go further out. It's a problem worsened by the only legal solution. People want a quiet and safe place to raise kids or just be comfortable in their own homes but sadly most US cities aren't like that in the downtown areas.

[@Rob.N.]

​​@@matthewshultz8762 Another issue is many uninformed Americans, usually 45+, perceive that the only type of living settings are downtown and their neighborhood. Which makes seeing as how they get anywhere: They drive through everything. They don't walk anywhere and when they do it's likely within a high density setting ( downtown) or Faux-High Dense Setting (Malls). So to escape that they went to the suburbs, but this has created the undesirable situation we have today. What we need back are the Pre-WW2 communities that made desirable places to live. We need back our Strong Walkable Towns. Not the semi isolated prisons known as the American Suburb.

[@nunyanunya4147]

'it doesnt' there saved everone 11 min and sponcer adds

[@thenotoriousmichaeljackson8938]

Zoning codes should mimic Tokyo. But improved where necessary

[@techmouse.]

This video is coming at an interesting time for me. I'm in the middle of trying to move to a big city and finding an apartment is a strange journey. A lot of landlords have odd rules about how much income you, the tenant, should have. Even though I've proven I have more than enough to make rent every month, they insist my income be 2.5x the rent. And since the rent is easily the biggest expense for an american anymore, unless you're going through chemo or buying a new smartphone every month or something, that's a high requirement just to rent a tiny apartment. I'm getting the feeling they don't like us poor people too much. Whether or not they're going to get paid every month isn't even their concern. I've proven they will. It's on paper, in plain black and white english, but that's not good enough for them. They want to be sure I don't come from a poor bloodline, too. This isn't even capitalism anymore. It's just classism.

[@skibumshwn]

Most apartments I've applied for anywhere require you to make 3x the monthly rent. They want to make sure you can afford rent along with your other bills, and perhaps they want you to have some money left over at the end of the month. If you didn't make the income restriction, you had to show you have 12 months of rent in savings (or it could have been more, maybe 3 years?)

[@techmouse.]

@@skibumshwn Damn 4 months seems like a long time ago now. Now I have much better working knowledge about what's going on 'behind the scenes.' And yes, it _is_ classism. Or at least _mostly_ classism. It's also about creating artificial demand, maintaining a monopoly with the other properties, and catering to the rich, because rich people will pay INSANE amounts of money for exclusivity. Most properties will take in _very_ few renters at a time, regardless of how many apartments they have open. They do this because they're all working together to fabricate demand and keep their own and each others' prices up. This is called a monopoly and it's very illegal. There's also a secret blacklist they all share that you'll be put on if you exercise your rights against them in court. If you've ever stood in front of a judge against a landlord/property manager/king shit asshole, then you're going to have a hard time finding an apartment in the future. That's the real reason we have homeless people. They can afford rent just fine. But nobody will rent to them because they stood up for themselves. There's also the issue of classism and catering to the rich. The rich are piss scared of sharing air with the poor. And I mean they are downright _TERRIFIED_ of it. As they should be, after what they've done. And that fear is the driving force for only moving into Richy Rich neighborhoods. If just one poor person moved in (obviously a mistake by the landlord/property manager/king shit asshole), they would swiftly be evicted for some made up non-sense reason. Maybe even a felonious made up reason. Like arson. They want rich people in their properties so bad, they don't even care if the rich ever pay their rent. But hard working, dedicated poor people who can carefully manage their budget and thus afford the same property, will be accused of arson, get evicted, and possibly serve time for it. The takeaway from this is private property should be abolished. Human lives shouldn't be put into the hands of the private sector. This blatant corruption has gone on long enough. Their bottomless greed is forcing the government to get involved. The fall of western society will be the fault of the rich. I can't believe how far I've come in 4 months.

[@skibumshwn]

@@techmouse. Wow. Yes there is a sorting into classes with property values and rent prices. Each person individually tries to move up in the class system to separate themselves from the lower class. Rightfully so. None of this is necessarily the product of the landlord though. New construction has a minimum break even point where there needs to be a minimum rent price. Some people won't be able to afford this. Other properties may have been constructed 50 years ago, be owned outright and can rent for a lower than market rate. Poorer people typically move into these as they can afford to. I'm not sure how you suggest we decide who lives in what house/apartment if not by affordability. Do we randomly assign people to random houses/apartments? Does government build only one type of house at one price point? I think we have those; they are called "The Projects" and no one likes them. What's the issue with you not being able to afford the new apartment that you want to move into? One can move to Omaha or a small rural town and rent a house for $400-500 a month (my family has a rental property and the tenant pays $400 a month an a home build in the 1800s). If one can't afford the cool downtown apartment, then move elsewhere. I don't understand this "I can't afford it so no one should have it" attitude.

[@skibumshwn]

@@techmouse. Or get roommates. In college my friends rented living rooms and shared rooms with friends.

[@skibumshwn]

One friend rented the half-basement (4' in height) for $80 a month. Another rented a shed for $25 a month. Perhaps governments should stop dictating how and where people live so they can find affordable housing. Some municipalities restrict a house to only three unrelated people. 1/5th of the mortgage is cheaper than 1/3rd...

[@BobbyT.]

Just gotta say that transition to the shaving ad was great

[@Astromancerguy]

I love seeing all the shots around SLO. Washington might abolish exclusionary zoning in mid to large cities this year. Here's hoping that happens and is extended to small cities, at least in the metro areas in the future.

[@Srayuda]

Bervelly Hills, Highlands Ranch, Hampton to mention a few are some of these places for upper class

[@AaronSmith-sx4ez]

Zoning is destroying most American cities...creating wasteful low density lots/yards which means more long stressful commutes and noisy roads. A solution would be to restrict development by attribute instead of type. So you could have air pollution zones, water pollution zones, noise pollution zones, etc...and what could be built inside them. Restricting a small walkable local grocer from appearing in residential neighborhood represents the madness and stupidity of the current zoning system.

[@xandercruz900]

>Restricting a small walkable local grocer from appearing in residential neighborhood represents the madness and stupidity of the current zoning system. There is no such thing as a small walkable local grocer. I think too many of you are envisioning some boutique place with a very limited selection of uber pricy goods that will somehow be delivered on a handcart. The amount of land that will be needed to have one of these is not going to look remotely as cozy and bohemian in a residential block as many people assume. They will need a place for the trucks to make deliveries. Space for the HVAC and garbage bins. Security lighting, and YES they will need parking of some sort. That is why you either get a glorified convivence store (that doesnt fit the bill) or a Mega-lo-Mart (which nose-dives) property values. And thus is why these are built along arterial roads.

[@AaronSmith-sx4ez]

@@xandercruz900 Yes it is possible...I grew up next to one. It wasn't huge and it's small parking lot usually filled up, but it was great for bike trips (with a backpack) or from a walk. The store had a spot where trucks could pull in and it all worked that great. It was a natural/organic grocer, so it didn't need to waste shelf space/real estate on junk food.

[@Labyrinth6000]

Nah, I prefer the zoning laws. I don’t want my house to be connected to an overcrowded and noisy restaurant. What if it catches on fire, than MY house catches on fire as well! 😡

[@234fddesa]

@@xandercruz900 I think when you cut down on the 5 different brands with 3 different varieties of peanut butter each, along with every other fucking thing the store carries, you find that the space required to keep a good amount of food for your customers actually becomes pretty small. So too, instead of getting a semi trailer's worth of shit on a biweekly basis or even monthly basis, you restock your shit like, daily, or maybe every couple days, or maybe weekly at the most, and usually that delivery's gonna be via van or some smaller covered truck. Usually this isn't the case in the US, even in cities, because our supply chains are super fucked up, and trucks have taken over the shipping industry with their ability to atomize and lack of comprehensive worker rights compared to the much larger up front investment costs associated with even light rail (not that rail workers have many rights either, but I've never heard of an inescapable pay your cheapass truck lease off type of scheme in rail, which is pretty common with immigrant labor stateside). The amount of people patronizing a smaller grocery store in the city is much larger than that of a walmart, relative to the size of the store, and this high frequency of purchasing means you need higher frequency of deliveries, and that means you're probably getting fresher shit. Probably not as fresh as some farmer's market, but fresher than most superstore stuff, and you're also going to be getting less overall food waste for those same reasons. You also probably, in a walkable neighborhood at least, have like, 2-3 grocery stores on the way home from your work commute, so you can just stop at those and pick up anything that the others don't have. Basically, it's the inverse of the prepackaged "food desert" convenience store you see in the US. That's why the northeast corridor has wawa, which is basically a small restaurant convenience store, and the west coast has shit like circle-k and 7-11 and truckstop style garbage.

[@xandercruz900]

@@234fddesa Yeah, so TL;DR, if you live someplace where people hate variety and choice? This bizarre store you envision does not exist, nor would it be sustainable. That's why it isnt done. >The amount of people patronizing a smaller grocery store in the city is much larger than that of a walmart, relative to the size of the store, When you have to stamp a major qualifier on a boast, you were better off not saying anything.

[@jstragland]

Houston- “Zoning? Never heard of it!”

[@Homer-OJ-Simpson]

FYI, Canadá is not that different from the US in zoning. That’s probably why it looks very similar to the US

[@NamelessProducts]

Zoning was never meant to protect the public. It was meant to segregate by class and race.

[@Labyrinth6000]

Maybe people prefer to self segregate by nature and choice? What’s wrong with that? I know houses in nicer neighborhoods have much more valuable over the poorer neighborhoods. I remember back in high school in the early 2010s, people by majority still prefer to stay in groups of their own race during lunch break. Also, I’ve been in major cities like “little” China town Houston and I come across those who openly hate any others of the same race of another country like Vietnamese, Korean, and Thai. Same with “little Mexico” (I have family there) who really hate those from Guatemala, Honduras, etc. I’d highly suggest you go outside and see for yourself.

[@NamelessProducts]

You are countering an argument I never made.

[@summerwine9918]

Zoning, as you described it here, seems overly prescriptive and centralised. Can't we come up with more organic/decentralised land use regulations that directly express our actual wishes like "factories shouldn't be built within X km of residential/public buildings" rather than having some government divide up a map into these different zones? Then the people on the ground with skin in the game (e.g. someone building a new shopping) can decide the best place for it, as long as the regulations are adhered to.

[@xandercruz900]

Well that is just Zoning with extra steps. Why should you be able to oppose a factory next to your home, but someone cant oppose an apartment complex next to theirs?

[@summerwine9918]

@@xandercruz900 Something like what you mention could definitely be incorporated into a more decentralised system. The point I was making is to avoid planners sitting down and saying "this little parcel of land here is for single-family homes, and this parcel over here is for retail, and that parcel over there is for high-density residential". Organic distance-based rules like "no very-high-density apartment complexes within X hundred metres of single-family residential" can absolutely be part of a system like that.

[@234fddesa]

@@summerwine9918 That's usually not how zoning works, it's less prescriptive. This video neglected to mention that those large amounts of r1 zoning on the edge of towns, that promote suburban sprawl, are usually done that way because that's what land developers, property ownership companies, it's what they want, and it's much harder for a municipality of 100,000 with a net tax of like, 5 million, maybe, to stand up against a handful of land developers that have net worth probably in the hundreds of millions. It's cheap and easy development that's basically free for the municipalities, all the up front costs are taken care of by the land developers, and then they sell the single family homes and then the city is basically left holding the slowly rotting bag of unsustainable infrastructure maintenance.

[@josephfisher426]

@@234fddesa Can you provide an example of that? I think it's much more typical for public infrastructure to stop at the equivalent of "R5", or possibly half-acre zoning where septic doesn't work but wells do.

[@tehbigdangtheory]

I love that you used the General Plan Land Use map of the San Fernando Valley as your video's thumbnail

[@glennac]

Ha!😂 “Moisture Farm”

[@madcat789]

God I hate modern zoning. It's absolute bullshit.

[@iQKyyR3K]

then don't move to a modern zoned area. as simple as that. I'd prefer to be able to walk to a pub and go shopping without a car. That would probably also save a few thousand lives every year, simply by reducing the need to drive home after having had a drink or 36

[@madcat789]

@@iQKyyR3K oh I would too, but where I live is where I work, and everything is out around three or four miles. It sucks.

[@iQKyyR3K]

@@madcat789 Ohh I misread your comment, I thought you hated the attempts for denser developments, not the current predominant single family zoning.

[@madcat789]

@@iQKyyR3K Neg. Its alright though. Go have a good day.

[@hobog]

I feel most Americans still don't know about zoning, except for nimbys

[@daniel_ghax]

Me watching this video while playing CS: Now im angry that the colors aren't right...

[@alreel9147]

Getting into real estate. I LOVE THE FACT THAT YOU PROVIDED EDUCATION ON THIS!!!!!Thanks a million

[@loturzelrestaurant]

@alreel9147 Your Typo was bought to your attention?

[@michaelvick2872]

The color coding is different for each state and may even be different from town to town and village to village**** Just wanted to add this since it’s not true as a blanket statement, but may be true as a whole for the state where this video was shot in

[@KRobinson-ko1ne]

I find it genuinely hilarious that you play it totally earnestly but you include Pokémon Gyms, Moisture Farms and the Orthanc in the city plan

[@jusjetz]

If you add 3x3 Super blocks for pedestrians inside the perimeter while normal motor vehicle Traffic flows outside the perimeter.

[@FilipinoWaylon26]

I'm so glad this video explains the concept of zoning, as living in Houston, we have no zoning laws

[@ricardokowalski1579]

2:10 "decided" Making the decision "easier" still does not explain of justify why is the decision *taken away* from the actual owner of the land

[@thomasnelson6161]

Seems strange to me, but in Jacksonville we have a historic business district called the rail district. Lots of railroad crossings, as u might imagine.

[@Zeyev]

The District of Columbia could be a good case study. The District decided years ago that embassies did not belong in residential neighborhoods. But - - - the French government eyed an old estate for a new chancery. The Congressional overlords sided with the French and outlawed the practice of restricting foreign governments from building wherever they wanted. But - - - they did not expand this nationwide in spite of the tenor of the District's Home Rule Charter that suggested they should have made it nationwide. I'm guessing that some cities/counties and States have similar disputes. In fact, the State of California is now trying to tell local governments they have to change their zoning policies. That new razor reminds me of the razors from my childhood. The spent blades in many homes were placed in a slot in a medicine chest and presumably went into the soil beneath the house to decompose. So strange.

[@josephfisher426]

They collect in the wall, except for the extent to which they turn to rust.

[@Zeyev]

@@josephfisher426 Thanks. I always wondered how that worked.

[@Thelaretus]

Could you do an analysis of São Paulo-SP, Brazil, and talk about both its real state and its zoning?

[@StopItRyan]

Minneapolis did do away with R1 zoning but they've done so in the most hackjob manner. What effectively is happening is apartment builders are buying up whole blocks, tearing down the previously affordable houses and building apartments that are more expensive per month than the house rent cost was previously. In doing so, they're also pricing out local businesses with national chains moving in, not getting what they expected and moving out leaving a vacant store front. This can be done successfully but Minneapolis isn't a good example at all.

[@KJSvitko]

Being able to walk or cycle to a restaurant, grocery store, other businesses, a park or mass transit makes a neighborhood livable. Those all need to be mixed together. Every child should be able to ride a bicycle to school. Cities need to be zoned for people not cars.

[@johnsamuel1999]

Cars are driven by people. And a fair amount of them prefer it

[@kurtniemeyer6314]

@@johnsamuel1999 So give them the freedom to choose it, instead of having the government force it.

[@johnsamuel1999]

@@kurtniemeyer6314 definitely i support that as well. But a lot of pro transit anf pro cyclist are so anti car. They have openly talked about banning cars in city centers, reducing parking or lanes for exiting roads, not building or expanding new roads and parking. They also want to use the fuel taxes to fund transit projects instead of roads. Plus they support policies like congestion pricing and higher car taxes. I am trying to say that anti car people are the ones using the government to act againt cat owners and force everyone to use tranist or cycling

[@garyw3070]

The other advantage of zoning is the planning for utilities like plumbing and electrical. An industrial zone would have a different utility infrastructure as a park or residential. The zoning would allow for future-proofing these areas when connecting to the main water supply/sewage or power transformers.

[@jessemagal]

zoning colours vary depending on countries, in some countries residential zoning can be brown, red or purple

[@ElusiveTy]

Just thought I'd say that Cities: Skylines doesn't necessarily get it wrong; zoning colours and codes can vary depending on jurisdiction

[@VCR47527]

Is there a group that heavily supports R1 zoning? I've only heard arguments against suburban sprawl and our stringent laws about what you can do with land you own. Who or what is preventing change? What are the counterarguments?

[@bluemountain4181]

I think a lot of people living there fear what might be built next to them if the zone was changed. Imagine having a nice house with a garden on a nice quiet street and then one day finding out that the plot next door to yours is going to be developed into an apartment block, car park or some offices. It would have a significant impact on the whole street and many people like the low density housing.

[@patrickmcclanahan2856]

@@bluemountain4181 not only that, but there is a consistent fear that greater density will lead to a devaluation of their home. If you’re in Cali and paid 2mil for a 2 bedroom, you’re not interested in people only being willing to pay 1mil for it 20 years down the road. Ideally, you support policies that will make your home worth 4mil

[@MrAronymous]

People constantly going on about "property values". They think that more diversity and corner shops and frequent transit nearby will lower their property values, while the opposite is true. Or more likely, they don't want to live among "those people", whoever that might be, and use all kinds of excuses to keep suburbia as it is, with its useless large monocultural front gardens, setback requirements, bad walkability etc.

[@seaotter42]

You won't find many in the comments section of urbanist videos for sure. I live in R1 and I strongly prefer it to other options... but I can see commercial zones from my backyard (I can easily walk to a grocery store and a dozen restaurants). I also have just enough space to have a dog, to safely ride a bike, and my neighborhood is pleasant and quiet to walk in. It probably helps that I'm on the edge of the neighborhood rather than deep in the middle of it... but I definitely get the appeal of a quiet street, prolific parks and trails, and not being able to touch my neighbors out the window (though the houses arent *that* far apart). I will say that I wish there was more mass transit, particularly trains, to and through the 'burbs. Sadly people who want great public transit and people want to live in the suburbs don't overlap much. I also think that remote work may allow for less dense housing options in the long run, which will decrease the need to build ever increasing density in urban cores. There are obviously a lot of people who want to be in city centers, but a big problem is that thats where most of the jobs are... and it snowballs on itself as more concentrated jobs means more desire to live in an area, which drives up housing costs and limits the space available to any individual or family. Maybe half-empty office towers in S.F., NYC, and other places will diminish demand for housing in those places, bringing down housing costs along with it. Anyway... some of us like R1, but since a significant number of videos on this channel demonize it, you probably won't get too many folks here defending it, and even fewer being willing to admit as much.

[@bruhbutwhytho]

​@@patrickmcclanahan2856but that just worsens the affordability crisis.

[@groomboek1978]

What I read from this is that there are enough possibilities in the US zoning system to create new residential areas as mixed use medium density neighborhoods. So the more interesting question is why these possibilities are not used and almost every new residential area is set to single family housing by default.

[@izureaul]

New Jersey towns got around this by using local property tax as a barrier for community entry.

[@jasonschubert6828]

I would be interested to get more information on land use in Shanghai. Having visited the Shanghai Urban Planning Centre I was very interested in the city scale model, that developers apparently have to add their proposed buildings to in order to get them approved.

[@steve19009]

You are right. Land use in China is pretty different from some western countries. Actually, every 15 years, the Chinese local government makes land use planning of their city for the next 15 years. The scheme may include zoning, concrete land use and economic development target of each district of the city. So basically, most developers have known what can be built in certain areas many years before they decided to bid for the right to use the land. But it also takes the government a lot of time to decide which one could get it. So it's not easy for cities like Shanghai to have a new building in the city proper.

[@TruFinancials]

I wanna live in the city that has the Pokemon Gym on their Use Table!!

[@Treasurehuntingsonic]

Use chart cracked me up 😂

[@Hazztech]

Us zoning legitimately makes me clinically depressed. There's nothing by me- no stores, doctor's offices, job opportunities, restaurants, nothing. Just endless, identical houses containing "neighbors" who hate you.

[@youngsm06]

That is New Jersey

[@JimmySaulGoodmanMcGill1960]

Short answer: it's bad

[@josephmoore4764]

Protesting the Orthanc my neighbor is building next door. Might have to bring in the Ents

[@hank3368]

I am curious how zoning reforms are coming along. Is Minneapolis seeing infill and growth with their changes?

[@TheScourge007]

The Minneapolis Federal Reserve (Federal Reserve data is great for getting housing information) has a couple of articles on this titled "Twin Cities region sees a year of lukewarm progress against persistent housing challenges" and "Multifamily construction surged in Ninth District during pandemic" both from 2022 (the latter includes broader looks across the Federal Reserve 9th district). The upshot is the zoning changes don't seem to have done much. There has been a shift to more multi-family unit construction, but that's not unique or even uniquely large in Minneapolis. The entire country has, for the past several years in a trend that pre-dates the pandemic, had the largest boom in multi-family unit construction since the 80s. There is also good data with the Atlanta Federal Reserve's Home Affordability Monitor. That last part is about ownership rather than rent costs, but is relevant still. The Minneapolis metro is one of the most affordable ones to buy a home outside of rust-belt in decline cities (which don't really work as a point of comparison since new construction isn't needed to drop housing prices when population, especially the wealthy population, of a city is declining). But Minneapolis is, for instance, more affordable when considering median income vs median home cost than any major metro in Texas for instance or really anywhere in the Sunbelt. But it was also more affordable to own than these areas before the zoning changes too. What I take from the data we have so far is that zoning reform will either take longer than 2 years to have a noticeable impact (a point that could be true given the time it takes for a lot of construction of larger units and the time it takes to build up the money for things like ADUs) or zoning reform isn't really a significant route to affordability in most of the country. While I think both play a part, I do believe that the 2nd alternative is going to be more relevant to a lot of areas. That's in large part because zoning reform in academic studies don't find major impacts on prices, typically findings effects of well under 10% of the price. What that indicates to me is that zoning most of the US is at most just a minor addition to existing market demand for lower density. The US generally has a lot of land compared to it's population (compared to most countries) and a population that largely can afford car ownership, with the result being demand for sprawling outward. In essence, we're rich (relative to other areas) and therefore through that money around in wasteful patterns of development and use local governments to give relatively minor boosts to that tendency (the bigger boosts come from the state and federal levels with the support for highways). If the US is really going to change it's urban fabric it will either take maintaining the current rate of multi-family construction for a very long time (the highest levels of construction since the 80s means a lot less when we've got a hundred million more people AND smaller household sizes), or it's going to take real attacks on federal and state highway spending and redirection to active transport (walking/cycling) and transit. If we try to just raise spending to do both expanding cars and expanding non-car transportation, cars will win out simply due to greater familiarity and current use.

[@katyoutnabout5943]

Very nice transition to the razors ;) that was *ahem smooth

[@jigokufaust983]

Dave, have you heard of the Brazilian engineer and architect Prestes Maia? He elaborated the Plano de Avenidas, a complete urban project for the city of São Paulo, which was a landmark for Brazilian urbanism.

[@dwadsworth125]

1:57 shoutout port washington

[@andrewschimberg8822]

That zoning map is Port Washington, WI isn’t it?

[@vincentgraham7010]

Excellent summary! You touched on it a bit, but how about going into more detail on the politics of zoning. Especially how NIMBYs wave the arbitrary standards of zoning (parking requirements, setbacks, building coverage, etc) as a means to prevent sensible rezoning requests from being passed.

[@sandlinjames]

You should cover more about Houston when you attempt to bring up lack of zoning. No Zoning == Urban Sprawl 101.

[@YukonGhibli]

Except zoned cities like Los Angeles, Dallas, and Atlanta all have more sprawl.

[@jairurbanadventures]

He has an entire video on Houston, which he even mentioned at the end of this one.

[@JesusManera]

Houston just replaces zoning with other ordinances which effectively do the same thing. It's just a different mechanism.

[@YukonGhibli]

@@JesusManera Not exactly; yes there are ordinances or deed restrictions in some neighbourhoods, and rules such as not having adult businesses within certain distances of schools, however there are literally houses next to skyscrapers because of the more open process without zoning.

[@isaacliu896]

The only zoning we need is a separation of areas where heavy and polluting manufacturing occurs

[@nolangrunska2009]

I wasn't expecting to see a shot with my building in it today.

[@ojay255]

Huh. I live nearby Mount Laurel NJ and I hadn't heard of that story, but I'm honestly not surprised

[@8_bit_Geek]

There is a barbershop there with mostly black barbers too. One of mine from nyc moved out there

[@1987Confused]

I understand that it's mostly a rural issue but I don't understand why channels like this don't mention it or how it's possible to often have multiple families living on one rural property. Many farms in my area will have multiple houses that are rented out often by people who are involved with that farm in one way or another.

[@thehulk10]

now the question is where do we get these tools?? the use table and the specifics?

[@fa7meh]

In major Cities east of the Mediterranean, like in Tilurkey, Lebanon and Syria, large cities have no one household houses, and most residential buildings have commercial use on the first floor, making it very convenient to shop, walk and chill without the need of using the car. however there huge challenges including green area shortages and corruption.

[@ianhomerpura8937]

What are green area shortages?

[@fa7meh]

@@ianhomerpura8937 very few and limited in space, compared to population density

[@definitelynotacrab7651]

Really like the redo, turned out great!

[@goldenfloof5469]

I lived in a neighborhood that was default American suburbia, and I really wish more places (heck, even the rest of that city I lived in) would do the same. It was a mile square (leftover from agricultural use in decades past, a 1/2 or 1/4 mile square might be more preferable) with businesses on the corners of that square, like a small grocery store, pharmacy, stuff like that. It also had a park in the middle and a grade-school next to that park. A mile square would be like a 25-30ish minute walk if you lived on the wrong corner from the business you needed to get to, but it was great for bikes, to the store and back in 15 minutes flat. A decent chunk of the city followed that general format, but unfortunately not most. Most just used the farther out mile squares for pure housing, and it'd be a several mile drive just to get to the nearest anything. Nowadays apartment complexes are super common in that area, and they're being built further and further from businesses with layouts that specifically makes it harder to walk places. I don't know why they just decided to develop a few decently walkable (and easily bikeable) blocks, and I don't know why they didn't do it further, but oh well, it was a nice place to live in while I did.

[@JesusManera]

The "middle suburbs" of Australian cities are/were similar. While they share a similar character to low density US suburbs, they are built around train/metro stations only about 800m (1/2 mile) apart, which are each the anchor of a "Main Street" style shopping strip. So pretty much all houses in these relatively compact suburbs are within a 15 minute walk of that. Plus corner stores/businesses scattered throughout too. It's actually excellent suburban planning because you can have single family homes and cars, BUT also be

[@ElectricNed]

That cut at 2:05 had me go back 3 times before I understood it was about government employees.

[@thisisbossi]

I just want to say that I don't think Orthanc should be allowed by-right in an R-1 zone. The building is entirely too tall and while the applicant claims it will be for only 1 occupant I know for a fact that they intend to allow a 2nd occupant, and there is space for even more. Their plans are showing a roof deck which SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED in our community. We are a quiet neighborhood that values not having loud music and incantations blaring from our rooftops. Mr. Sareman also proposes to destroy our neighborhood's champion trees which is entirely unacceptable. I hope someone loses their job for proposing Orthanc in an R-1 zone. Thank you

[@QemeH]

Zoning isn't terrible if done right. In fact, zoning is _neccessary_ to keep a city functioning well for the residents. But bad zoning is obviously a problem. It's kinda like hating a specific ground rule in baseball - you might be right, but even if you are that doesn't mean baseball should abolish all gorund rules and only approve standard field shapes. It just means that they have to be vry judicious about the individual ground rules.

[@JesusManera]

100%. I totally agree with this. The purpose of zoning is supposed to be to keep profiteering developers in check, and if done right, it is actually supposed to ensure that development contributes to a liveable environment. I don't think the problem is the existence of zoning, or even single-family home zoning, but how poorly it is done in the United States. The issue is when there is too much continuous single family zoning, usually tucked away off freeways/highways meaning the housing development is isolated from other services without a car, and that the commercial zones are enormous parking-oriented ones that serve 2 or 3 surrounding residential developments by car only. In many countries including my own, there is plenty of low density residential zoning but parcels of commercial zoning for small shopping strips are scattered throughout. These commercial pockets are in appropriate spots, for example next to the schools and parks, not just a supermarket plonked between two houses as some commenters here claim would happen, but are still on walkable streets within the suburb. Additionally, most suburbs are built along metro/train lines and each one has more of a major "Main/High Street" style shopping area, with larger stores and public transport links, and these are usually only about 15-20 minutes (walking distance) apart themselves. Around these areas, pockets of higher density (eg. Apartments above shops and on the main road) are allowed, to help support the businesses and infrastructure. However, all the infill between these areas is still zoned for single family homes (other than as I said the small commercial parcels scattered around in appropriate locations) creating suburbs that are still predominantly quiet, leafy, suburban and family-oriented with large blocks and are very car friendly; but at the same time they are walkable, pleasant, accessible and not car dependent. It's not hard to get right, and the intention of zoning is actually supposed to be to prevent developers from just building endless housing to maximise profits, without factoring in space for walkable amenities!