Zoning

Planning an Affordable City

Published: 2015 | Roderick M. Hills, Jr. David Schleicher | Yale Law & Economics Review Abstract In many of the biggest and richest cities in America, there is a housing affordability crisis. Housing prices in these cities have appreciated well…

The New Exclusionary Zoning

Published: 2014 | John Mangin | Stanford Law and Policy Review Abstract If low-income families can’t afford the suburbs and the cities, where should they go? For the first time in American history, it makes sense to talk about whole…

The Effect of Density Zoning on Racial Segregation in U.S. Urban Areas

Published: 2009 | Jonathan Rothwell and Douglas Massey Abstract We argue that anti-density zoning increases black residential segregation in U.S. metropolitan areas by reducing the quantity of affordable housing in white jurisdictions. Drawing on census data and local regulation indicators…

Regulation and the High Cost of Housing in California

Published: 2005 | John Quigley and Steven Raphael | American Economic Association Abstract In this paper, we explore the linkages between land-use regulations, growth in the housing stock, and housing prices in California cities. First, we assess whether housing is…

An Economic History of Zoning and a Cure for Its Exclusionary Effects

Published: 2001 | William A. Fischel | Urban Studies Abstract I outline the twentieth-century history of American zoning to explain how homeowners came to dominate its content and administration in most jurisdictions. Zoning’s original purpose was to protect homeowners in…

The Racial Origins of Zoning in American Cities

Published: 1997 | Christopher Silver Abstract This book chapter points out zoning’s early social function as a legal mechanism for separating immigrant and African American populations, serving to preserve property values or enforce racial segregation. It shows that the narrative…