NAR Library & Archives has already done the research for you. References (formerly Field Guides) offer links to articles, eBooks, websites, statistics, and more to provide a comprehensive overview of perspectives. EBSCO articles (E) are available only to NAR members and require a password.
Zoning Basics
What You Need to Know About Zoning Codes (Millman, Mar. 20, 2024)
“A zoning code is just a short combination of letters and numbers that determines what you can build on a particular plot of lands. A zoning code of C-1, for instance, might indicate low-rise commercial development. R-3, by contrast, could mean that developers are allowed to build high-rise residential condos and apartments. Different authorities have different zoning codes. But even if the nomenclature changes, the basic premise doesn’t. What you’re allowed to build on a particular parcel of land depends entirely on the code ascribed to it. If the project doesn’t match the code, it can’t go ahead (unless zoning changes).”
A Practical Guide to Understanding Zoning Laws (PropertyMetrics, Jan. 3, 2023)
“Why is zoning important? Zoning laws determine what kind of structures can be built, whether or not an existing property can be re-purposed, and even whether or not an existing structure can be replaced with something new at all. Of course, even if these aren’t changes you are currently considering, you might have a neighbor trying to make one of these changes… to the detriment of your own property. Understanding zoning is important because it will in large part determine whether or not you get the change you want, and also whether or not you can prevent or modify the change you don’t want. In this article we’ll give you a practical guide to how zoning works, step by step.”
Zoning and Your Business Location (The Balance, Oct. 12, 2022)
“Every local business needs to consider zoning. Whether you are setting up your business in your home, buying or building a new office or warehouse facility, zoning comes into play as a big factor…As you look for business locations, keep in mind the different types of zoning you may encounter. Knowing how a property is zoned can help you avoid problems and give you information to help you seek changes.”
Impacts of Zoning
How Zoning Regulations Affect Affordable Housing (National Association of Home Builders, Nov. 11, 2024)
“As the country continues to grapple with housing affordability issues, zoning laws are under scrutiny as potential obstacles to building more accessible housing. Zoning and land use policies can either constrain or promote housing production, depending on how they are structured. Examples of incentives such as density bonuses or streamlined approval processes encourage the creation of affordable housing by promoting more efficient building timelines and a higher number of units to meet demand. Common zoning barriers — including minimum lot sizes, height restrictions and parking requirements — often minimize supply and hinder development.”
Exclusionary Zoning: Origins, Open Suburbs, and Contemporary Debates (Journal of the American Planning Association, 2021) E
“Exclusionary zoning refers to local land use zoning practices that effectively bar low- and moderate- income households from finding adequate housing. Exclusionary zoning does not look the same from place to place, nor is exclusionary zoning the only impediment to meeting housing needs. Its removal is a necessary, though insufficient, condition for providing adequate housing. It is arguably a bigger problem today than ever, with the United States producing less and less housing even as prices escalate.” The author provides a look into zoning practices of the 20th century and how those have shaped American cities and local markets.
Inclusionary Zoning and Housing Market Outcomes (Cityscape: A Journal of Policy Development and Research, 2021)
“As regions across the United States experience high and rising house prices, inclusionary zoning has become more popular as a tool to increase the availability of affordable housing for households making less than their region's median income. When inclusionary zoning requires private developers to subsidize below-market-rate units, however, it may act as a tax on housing, leading to reduced supply and higher prices than cities would experience without the policy. In this article, the author uses a new dataset on inclusionary zoning in the Baltimore-Washington region to estimate its effects on market-rate house prices and building permits in a difference-in-difference study. The author finds some evidence that inclusionary zoning increases market-rate house prices but none that it reduces new housing supply.”
Zoning and Segregation in Urban Economic Historypdf (Journal of Regional Science & Urban Economics, Jan. 19, 2021)
“Recent work has argued that zoning is responsible for racial segregation, disparities in public goods provision, growing regional inequality, and exploding housing costs in productive areas. However, the slow-moving nature of land regulation's effects suggests a crucial need for historical perspective to understand how zoning has shaped cities over the long term. This essay places the introduction of zoning in the broader context of urban development in the early twentieth century, with a focus on how the demand for separation of racial groups influenced some of the earliest zoning ordinances in American cities. We also discuss the long-run impact of zoning on the development of cities and highlight the key gaps in our understanding of the role of urban and suburban zoning in fostering segregation within cities and across metropolitan areas. A key lesson from our work in this area is that racial dimensions are important when studying land use regulations, even when the policies in question are ostensibly race neutral.”
Is Zoning a Useful Tool or a Regulatory Barrier? (Brookings, Oct. 31, 2019)
“Local regulations over how land can be developed are under fire for their role in escalating housing costs. Research shows that overly restrictive zoning makes it hard for developers to build new housing, driving up rents and prices…In this article I describe how zoning laws regulate housing, discuss the strengths and limitions of different approaches to measuring zoning stringency, and outline an alternative framing of the problem.”
How Zoning Shapes Our Lives (Housing Matters, Jun. 12, 2019)
“Zoning rules dictate more than just how we can use and build on land. They also shape our communities and our lives. Land use laws determine where we can find housing, schools, and parks—and who has access to them. Policymakers initially created zoning codes to protect public health—for example, to stop residents from getting sick from living too close to factories. But from the start, zoning has separated more than just land uses. It has also separated people.”
Zoning Reform
Eliminating Zoning Barriers to Affordable Housing Guidebook (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2024)
“This guidebook provides practical and evidence-based solutions for practitioners seeking to address the housing supply and affordability crisis in their communities through zoning reform. The guidebook is a comprehensive document. Although both the website and guidebook are designed to allow easy navigation between sections as needed, it remains a complete, standalone document. In addition, this guidebook is relevant to other stakeholders able to directly influence, advocate for, or collaborate with planning personnel, such as community advocates, residents, state leaders, housing developers, and business leaders. It provides insights into how zoning impacts housing supply, which in turn impacts housing availability and affordability for rental and homeownership opportunities. Most importantly, this guidebook provides a series of actionable regulatory, programmatic, and policy interventions that municipalities can employ to mitigate zoning barriers and advance the amount and variety of local affordable housing produced for all income levels.”
Promoting Affordable Housing Via Zoning Reform (On Common Ground, Nov. 8, 2023)
“America has an affordable housing crisis. For more than two decades, supply has not kept pace with demand. The result is housing — rental and homeownership — is out of reach for an increasing number of Americans each day. Using zoning, land use and incentive programs closely linked to the planning/zoning toolbox is the way many cities and states are searching for the light at the end of the tunnel. Many states have grown so tired of local rules that make it impossible to build affordable and missing middle housing, that they have passed laws that preempt local control over some land-use decisions. Some have done away with single-family-only zoning — the majority of zoning in all of the land — and allowed Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs), or even duplexes or triplexes, by right, in single-family districts.”
What is Zoning Reform and Why Do We Need It? (American Planning Association, Jan. 18, 2023)
“Zoning reform, championed as a key pillar of change, has suddenly become one of the most talked-about policy topics in local government. . .So how does zoning reform work? Just as there are multiple causes for the calamitous housing crisis, there are also multiple solutions, which often overlap and complement each other. Here are six tactics decision makers at local and state levels are exploring.”
Effective Zoning Reform Isn’t As Simple As It Seems (Bloomberg, May 24, 2022)
“Identifying the land-use policies that most effectively add housing is harder than it seems. Mounting evidence indicates that one-off reforms such as eliminating single-family-only zoning aren’t adequate. To make meaningful progress in building homes, municipalities have to do more…The requirements for zoning reforms must be tailored to different jurisdictions’ unique circumstances, because a one-size-fits-all strategy won’t be effective or equitable.”
Build Race Equity Into Rezoning Decisions (Brookings, Jul. 13, 2021)
“Housing discrimination on the basis of race has been outlawed for more than half a century, yet Americans still reside in neighborhoods significantly divided by race and, to a lesser extent, class. Although this state of affairs has multiple causes, one of the most important is land use regulations that are used by cities and towns to exclude certain types of people from neighborhoods and even entire towns. Zoning in particular is one such tool.”
State and Local Policy Strategies to Advance Housing Affordability (National Association of REALTORS®, Feb. 17, 2021)
“The United States faces a severe and worsening housing affordability crisis that increasingly affects every state and almost every major community in the nation. The two most recent economic shocks, the Great Recession and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, profoundly exacerbated housing affordability across the country…This paper intends to shed light on the scope and scale of the problem in communities across the country and to highlight a selection of policy pathways that communities can and should consider pursuing in order to support local affordability.” Pages 24-27 highlight how zoning reforms can “potentially be used to bolster local economies and government revenues, while increasing the supply of housing without significant upfront budget outlays.”
Useful Websites
Form-Based Codes Institute
“The Form-Based Codes Institute (FBCI), a program of Smart Growth America, is a professional organization dedicated to advancing the understanding and use of form-based codes.”
National Zoning Atlas
“The National Zoning Atlas aims to depict key aspects of zoning codes in an online, user-friendly map. It will enable comparisons across jurisdictions, illuminate regional and statewide trends, and strengthen national planning for housing production, transportation infrastructure, and climate response.”
Smart Growth America
Smart Growth America is focused on “reinvesting in America’s downtowns and main streets…creating homes fro families of all income levels alongside one another in locations where daily needs are close by.” They take an interdisciplinary approach to creating solutions, proposing legislation, and specifically reforming zoning laws to allow for the encouragement of mixed building type and use neighborhoods.
eBooks & Other Resources
eBooks.realtor.org
The following eBooks and digital audiobooks are available to NAR members:
America’s Frozen Neighborhoods: The Abuse of Zoning (eBook)
Arbitrary Lines: How Zoning Broke the American City and How to Fix It (eBook)
The Complete Real Estate Encyclopedia (eBook)
Community Planning: An Introduction to the Comprehensive Plan (Audiobook, eBook)
A Better Way to Zone: Ten Principles to Create More Livable Cities (Audiobook, eBook)
The Complete Guide to Zoning: How Real Estate Owners and Developers Can Create and Preserve Property Value (eBook)
Missing Middle Housing (eBook)
Books, Videos, Research Reports & More
As a member benefit, the following resources and more are available for loan through the NAR Library. Items will be mailed directly to you or made available for pickup at the REALTOR® Building in Chicago.
Walkable City Rules (Island Press, 2018)
City Rules: How Regulations Affect Urban Form (Island Press, 2012)
City Economics (Harvard University Press, 2005)
Have an idea for a real estate topic? Send us your suggestions.
The inclusion of links on this page does not imply endorsement by the National Association of REALTORS®. NAR makes no representations about whether the content of any external sites which may be linked in this page complies with state or federal laws or regulations or with applicable NAR policies. These links are provided for your convenience only and you rely on them at your own risk.
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