Key to the City: How Zoning Shapes Our World

by Sara C. Bronin

An eye-opening exploration of one of the little-known levers that control our world—zoning codes—and a call-to-arms for using them to improve American society at every level.

Zoning codes have become the most significant regulatory power of local government, determining how we experience our cities. Yet zoning remains invisible. In Key to the City, legal scholar and architect Sara C. Bronin reveals the impact of zoning—for good and ill—in cities across the country, from Hartford to Baltimore and Las Vegas to Chicago. Outdated zoning codes have maintained racial segregation, prioritized cars over people, and enabled great ecological harm. As Bronin argues, once we recognize the power of zoning, we can harness it to instead create walkable and vibrant communities, resist the monotonous effects of suburban sprawl, integrate design elements that inspire delight, and ensure that everyone has access to affordable housing, public transportation, and healthy food. Key to the City demystifies the invisible force shaping our communities and puts forward a practical and energizing vision for how we can reimagine them.

Genres: Urban Planning, Nonfiction, Urbanism, Architecture, Law, Urban, Audiobook

240 pages, Hardcover

Published October 1, 2024

Reviews

[CatReader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sara Bronin is a Mexican-American architect and lawyer who grew up in Houston (which is the largest US city without traditional zoning regulations) and has subsequently worked in zoning law in Hartford, Connecticut and most recently in Washington, D.C.. Her 2025 book Key to the City is a general overview of US zoning laws told in what I found to be a surface-level and politically slanted way. For instance, she tells frequent anecdotes about how zoning has led to urban decay in certain streets and neighborhoods and how her work toward revising codes solved the problems, but doesn't go deeper to explain the justification and intent for the original codes, and the arguments for and against changing them. Focusing on fewer examples but presenting them with more depth would have been helpful to help readers more fully understand zoning issues. Still, this is an interesting topic that I'd be inclined to read about in more depth.

Further reading:
Urban Jungle: The History and Future of Nature in the City by Ben Wilson - Bronin talks about how some zoning codes require or incentive green spaces; this book goes more into depth on that topic

My statistics:
Book for 2025
Book cumulatively

[Sasha Sklyarenko · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m no expert on zoning or city design, but I felt like there were so many unanswered and underexplored topics in this book, I kept thinking “well what about..?”. It also was pretty one sided in favor of zoning while pretending to cover both sides.

[Taylor Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

loved this book!! a lot of it was a review of my undergrad but it was very approachable for a general audience. it also touched on adaptive reuse so enjoyed that a lot. i loved heard abt the different city examples cause so much of my undergrad focused on nyc. my fav part was that it had a ton of personal anecdotes so it read kinda like a memoir at some points. short and easy read but very informative. also completely coincidental, it was written by natalie’s boss lol so shoutout <3

[Logan Kedzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The passage about improving a street by reintroducing cars was surprising, while the author suggesting a roll back of First Amendment jurisprudence was alarming.

Key to the City is a discussion of zoning in the united states and how it affects daily life. The book uses a case study approach of telling the stories of different cities and towns in the U.S. and how choices about zoning have changed those cities, earlier on for the worse, but now for the better, mostly.

The book has a good approach to the problems created by zoning, specifically treating the topic as bigger than zoning. There is the more typical discussion of car infrastructure, but the book also looks at food, industry, nightlife, and building codes or land use more generally. The author is skilled at breaking down the minutia and explaining it for a general audience. The discussions are broad in scope throughout the United States, and address rural areas, even if Hartford, CT is the song's refrain of where the author was on the planning committee.

It is also NIMBY-lite. Acknowledging the problems that arose out of zoning policy arising from the Supreme Court decision in Euclid, including the bigoted portions of the decision itself, the author is interested in reform, not revolution. Some of it seems reasonable, making moderate improvements where the perfect is not the enemy of the good. Some of it seems wackadoodle, drawn from a technocratic satire: the 15 minute city They warned you about. This sometimes reaches the point where the book contradicts itself, where the spirit of the law trumping the letter leads to takes that I can square, but with effort.

There are a lot of personal asides that are vaguely objectionable. The afterward thanks the editor for making the book less wonkish, but I think that they ought to have zagged, using the author's adroit technical writing to educate rather than feeling the need to humanize. It is not offensive (contra another reviewer on Swift; my specific complaints are more blog grade), but it is unpersuasive. It does nothing for the author's thesis. At worst, it is repeating the old mistakes in a new way. But it is this quality that makes the book worth recommending.

Standard urbanist discourse falls into two camps, Libertarian and Progressive. The book comes from more of a centrist position with a small c-conservative streak: civil rights are good; now please go mow your lawn. This is a sort of identity that tends to get flack from both Right and Left (mostly Left). It is core, or adjacent to, opposition to urbanist policies. So, if the worst possible case is that this is old wine in new bottles, the best possible one is that this is a sort of manifesto for a non-traditional set of urbanists, expressing its own set of concerns. That is forward motion, and what productive political argument looks like. It is helpful.

Thus, this is one of those "if you read one book on the topic" books. It is not comprehensive, but if you are the sort of person who is otherwise disinterested in the concept of regulation creating policy, it may help you see what us wonks are wonking over.

My thanks to the author, Sara C. Bronin, for writing the book, and to the publisher, W. W. Norton & Company, for making the ARC available to me.

[David Auth · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a read, provided a lot of good local examples of how zoning can be used in beneficial ways. Also gave Pittsburgh a shoutout for a questionably policy I’ve written negatively about in the past, which was neat to see.

[Hayden DeBoer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book provides a very broad overview of a lot of different topics that would be considered zoning. I did enjoy the book but found myself wanting more from each chapter. A short read and maybe a very good introduction to someone who’s never consider how zoning is affecting their life.
One thing I would like out of a book about zoning is what the options are for large single family zoned suburbs.

[Lauren D'Souza · Rating 4 out of 5]

I took a class on American suburbia in college and my professor had one message she wanted us to remember: if you want to have a true impact on what your city looks and feels like, join its zoning board. The zoning board is a small group of citizens who make changes to a city's zoning code, a document that dictates everything from the mapping of zoning districts to what signage should look like.

Lawyer, legal scholar, and architect Sara Bronin joined the zoning board of the city of Hartford, CT, one of the poorest cities in the country, and led the complete overhaul of the city's zoning code with the aim of transforming Hartford into a more livable and sustainable city. In this book, Bronin talks about how zoning shapes so much of the visible and invisible components of a city. Bronin goes beyond what most of us know or can guess - like how single-family residential zoning and redlining led to the effective segregation of cities by race and class.

She highlights various cities and how their zoning has had positive or negative impacts: improving local food security by allowing small-scale farming in Boston, using tree-planting and vegetation requirements to improve ecosystem services in Tucson, fighting for cultural preservation of historic music landmarks in Nashville, elevating entertainment and nightlife to a city-wide festival with SXSW in Austin, how a lack of a zoning code facilitated improvements in homelessness in Houston, and guiding people towards transit by purposefully limiting parking in San Francisco.

Throughout, Bronin emphasizes that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to zoning and that problems of homelessness and racial inequity are difficult to solve even with great zoning. But anyone who cares about creating mixed-use, thriving, culturally rich and diverse neighborhoods should first look toward zoning reform as the document that sets the rules for how the city can be laid.

[Max Holperin · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting, but not sure what actionable steps to take as someone not on a common council

[Katie A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very enjoyable, if very niche. 😅

[Julia Ferri · Rating 4 out of 5]

pittsburgh mentioned 🤘🤩🏆 (for having bad zoning policy)

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Taylor Swift != "Modern Day Elvis Presley"! I came into this book wanting to read about the American Government on the Fourth of July. Honestly, as an avowed Anarchist and former Libertarian Party official at both the State and local levels + 2x rural small town City Council candidate... I probably should have known better. ;)

It isn't that this book isn't illuminating nor well documented - it actually is reasonably good at both, with a bibliography clocking in at 21% of the overall text. Seriously, if you've never considered the topic of land zoning as it is practiced in the United States and how it is used to control you, your neighbors, your town, even to a slightly lesser (direct) manner your State and even the entire Country... you need to read this book.

Bronin truly does a great job of examining the history of zoning as practiced in the US, including how it came to be and why and how it has been used over the century or so since it first came into being. (Indeed, according to Bronin, the Supreme Court cases that effectively legalized the practice are still not quite a century old at either the writing of this review in early July 2024 or when the book is scheduled to be released in early October 2024.)

My issue, and I think it is objective enough (if, perhaps, barely) is that Bronin approaches this topic as a Chair of a Zoning Board who wants Zoning Boards to be even *more* active in limiting what you can do with the property that you legally own and actively encourages strategies to accomplish a very progressive agenda, including "Climate change" and mass transit theories that barely work in the extremely densely populated "Boshwash" (Boston - Washington DC) corridor she rules the aforementioned Zoning Board in - theories that could never work in the *far* less densely populated areas of South Georgia or even Central South Carolina that I've lived in, much less west of the Missisippi River where population densities (until you get to the Pacific Coast) largely truly plummet. And yes, there are *reasons* I mentioned my political background up front in this review. :)

As but an example, I point to the title of this review - at one point in this text, Ms. Bronin does in fact claim that Taylor Swift is a "modern day Elvis Presley". To be clear, if she had compared Ms. Swift to say the Beatles or the Rolling Stones or even Johnny Cash himself, that would have been a fair comparison and I would have had to find another example of where she is particularly outlandish without going into the actual details of the book (ie, spoilers). But as Ms. Swift never had to so much as register for the Draft - much less be selected by it and forced to serve in the US Military, this alone shows that Elvis was a different breed entirely. And to be clear, lest any Swifties attack this review just because of this paragraph, I'm not actually criticizing Ms. Swift. She is indeed a global phenomenon and is clearly quite talented in her own right. I am not saying otherwise or taking anything from her. I'm simply noting that for all she has done and all the fans she has, Elvis was *still* on another level from her.

Overall, read this book. Seriously. You're going to learn a lot, no matter your own political leanings or how you feel about the sanctity of private property. But "if you feel as I feel" (to quote the always amazing V for Vendetta), know there will be many points you will want to defenestrate this book forthwith and from the highest available window. But unless you've had the experience of myself or Ms. Bronin or the admittedly *numerous* people like us who *have* actively dealt with zoning boards at some direct level before... you really are going to learn some things here. Clearly, even *I* learned a few things here myself, even *with* a few years of directly relevant experience.

Recommended.

[Joyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not my favorite book about zoning but an interesting book telling the stories of how zoning has shaped numerous places (Minneapolis, Hartford, Burlington, Austin, Boston and more). Author is a land use attorney and used to chair the Hartford planning board. Even though she shows how zoning has resulted in lifeless, sprawling suburbs and car dependent living with such commonly used minimum parking requirements, minimum lot sizes and more, the author is not anti-zoning. Indeed, she shows in the book how zoning (the rules of how we use land) can be shaped to build climate supporting, vibrant, mixed use, walkable and livable neighborhoods. For example, to enhance the micro economic productivity of a community, one could consider legalizing corner stores, small economic uses in residences (the hair dresser or home dentist office, etc), small green projects. She gave examples of some small tweaks could make really healthy changes. For example, in Hartford, the owner of a neighborhood enhancing small scale brewery with tastings and offering a third place challenged the zoning of locating near a school and won! His establishment is a healthy addition to the local fabric of the community. Interesting to see how different cities zone for "nightlife" - adult entertainment. In Austin, there is zoning to disperse these establishment vs in Baltimore, there is a zoning district actually fairly close the new waterfront tourist area that is a two block home of adult entertainment. Author talks about the landmark legalization of missing middle housing and ADUs in Minneapolis but then questions the use of inclusionary zoning, positing that mandates inclusionary zoning has resulted in less building of new homes and an increase in market rate rent. Author offered fascinating chapters on the use of zoning to help cities and towns mitigate the impact of climate change -- zoning mandates for more tree plantings, allowing small scale farming (backyard, community gardens, composting, bee keeping) that is not only economically helpful but also offers an avenue for local food production. She gave an interesting comparison of two cities in Arizona -- Taliesin West of Phoenix that mandates water thirsty grass landscaping and extensive residential watering systems compared to Tuscon that mandates the use of native plantings, water conservation and reclaimed water systems. These stories are a little window into the book. I would recommend especially to those who are new to understanding land use planning and zoning.

[Ben Valente · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you take the boot off of somebody’s neck and they can finally gasp for air again, do you look at the boot as a life-saving intervention for those who can’t breathe? The author seems to posit so.

Many of the anecdotes in the first two sections follow the same formula: an undesirable existing or past condition is described, its cause is traced back to a development standard, and a positive effect is correlated to the rollback of that standard. It’s not exactly the stuff that sells people on the benefit of the system. The author also clutches her pearls in places (adult entertainment and nightlife uses, less desirable low-income and immigrant communities) that make me want to laugh.

I’m also not fully convinced by the arguments in the later part of the book, which are more so additive than subtractive. Zoning is not the only policy that works on a location and not everything belongs therein. Street classifications are already commonly assigned in a comprehensive plan, similarly to a Future Land Use designation. It needn’t be relocated. Im not sold on the all-in on urban agriculture—unquestionably it is a positive amenity for residents but I need some evidence for positioning it as a realistic generator of enough food to seriously promote its widespread existence (roof gardens obviously excluded).

But I am also not the target audience for this book. I’m a professional planner who has worked on zoning reform projects, and so there was very little new for me to learn here. I assume the intended audience would be a concerned citizen who attended a public meeting for their jurisdiction’s code update project who wants to educate themselves on the subject they wish to engage in. In that sense, I can recommend this title, it would be a solid primer for a layperson who wants to know the types of things a code can address and point them in the direction of things to comment on and push their department to implement. Just do so with other references and research.

[Michael Lewyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like more libertarian writers, Bronin seems to agree that zoning generally does more harm than good: it has created a nationwide housing shortage by limiting the number of units that can be built and has made American cities and suburbs unnecessarily car-dependent (and thus more polluting).

But unlike libertarians, Bronin tries to show how zoning can be used to make cities more environmentally friendly and more pleasant. For example, most zoning codes require buildings to be set back far from the street, which requires long walks from sidewalks to jobs and offices- but more enlightened codes require buildings to be closer to the street, making streets more visually interesting and pedestrian-friendly.

I'm not completely persuaded by Bronin, for two reasons. First, even if the ideal zoning code would be better than no zoning, the zoning status quo is (in my view) worse- so unless most local governments suddenly decide to adopt Bronin's priorities, the country would be cheaper and less polluted with no zoning at all. Second, even some seemingly beneficial zoning policies might have unexpected costs. For example, Bronin praises a zoning code that requires buildings to "have a ... mix of studios, one-bedrooms, and apartments with two or more bedrooms." Bronin believes that this requirement benefits cities by bringing in families who might purchase more stuff from area retailers. But if government limits the cheapest, smallest apartments (studios), those apartments will be more expensive, thus harming people at the bottom of the income ladder. Moreover, I very much doubt that two-bedroom apartment will always be occupied by families (as opposed to single roommates).

[Matthew J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded up to 4 for clear, concise writing. The book is a well-written introduction to zoning, a topic its target audience may have thought little about. I enjoyed the case studies, and overall I agree with the author’s premise: zoning codes have prioritized the car to the detriment of people.

That being said, the book lacks data. And by using the case study method, the author gets to cherry pick her examples. Every place that implemented a policy she supports saw immediate dividends. How convenient!

The irony is that one reason many zoning codes haven’t benefited local residents is the difficulty in foreseeing unintended consequences. Sure all form zoning sounds nice on paper, but what happens when no one is willing to build because compliance makes the project economically nonviable?

This is actually the book’s biggest weakness. The author fails to engage with tradeoffs. She pays some lip service to the idea, but every aspect of a zoning code is really a tradeoff. Even if every proposal in the book would be for the best, there are still tradeoffs. Get rid of parking? Fewer people from outside the area may visit. Allow more mixed use? Some businesses may annoy residents and cause them to leave for strictly residential areas.

Overall I enjoyed the book, but it could have been so much better.

[Angie Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m a perfect target audience for this book as many passages get me excited about the potential vision for our cities- and my city. Banks need to be willing to lend to property owners seeking to build middle housing. We need to get more voices to the table while decisions are being made. Changing zoning is a long game and promoting integration and a more equitable future will not be quick or easy. I loved reading about Buffalos Green Code which has requirements for biking and walking rather than for cars. In Hartford property owners must provide minimum bike parking for small scale housing. New offices, hospitals and college buildings must include a shower and changing facility for 0.5 percent of occupants which was encouraged by bike advocates to enable riders to bike commute to their work!!! Love!!! A lengthy discussion of
Parking minimums was obviously covered in the book as well. Let’s reverse the ways in which zoning has perpetuated a reliance on cars via infrastructure that forces us to use them. If we want to curb cars’ strong hold on our communities and move toward a richer mix of transportation options then our strategies must be multifaceted. I’m thrilled the author included the zoning problems associated with CAFOs and the waste they create- creating serious toxicity for our water systems in Iowa.

[Joe Liang · Rating 4 out of 5]

Key to the City wonderfully introduces many examples of positive and negative zoning practices across American cities. Sara Bronin advocates for a balance in zoning to achieve the best results, as the laissez-faire unzoned Austin, Texas is an example of the market not self-regulating well enough, with the nightlife and housing qualities declining throughout recent years (but also improving after sufficient regulations).

Most of the examples are rather cursory but descriptive enough to allow any person to understand the capabilities of zoning, and her notes in the back enable the reader to dive into further readings on zoning easily. Bronin puts a lot of her own voice into the book to make the arguments more personal and connected.

[Bennie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining quick read. She cites numerous case studies to illustrate the variety of zoning regulations in US cities. I found lot sizes (Connecticut), parking (Buffalo), and green roofs (Boston) most intriguing. Her stories of growing up in Houston, the only major US city without zoning, challenged my assumption that developers were free to build without hindrance or requirements (for housing, covenants proliferate and minimum lot sizes abound).

A fun fact I learned: zoning requires 80% of residential properties in Connecticut to have a lot size of 1 acre! No wonder I felt like the "suburbs" were rural!

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sara Bronin has written a thought-provoking narrative of contrasting urban planning in different cities that influences the inhabitants’ daily lives. I thoroughly enjoyed learning not only of the history of several American cities, but also of what the future holds and what can change for the better. Bronin’s passion for intelligent and thoughtful planning shines through. I believe that all architect students and city planners should read this book, but it is also written to be understandable (and enjoyable!) for a layperson like me.

[Meaghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read my full review: https://www.mwgerard.com/books-for-no...

Zoning is one of the more mundane -- and potentially nefarious -- aspects of modern living. Bureaucratic at its core, at times inscrutable for the average person, it can make or break a city. It can also ruin a neighborhood, encourage new business, or protect natural resources. Brown uses examples of zoning, good and bad, to illustrate her points, though I wish she had included more ways to create protective ordinances.

Read via NetGalley.

[Jaibin Mathew · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got to meet the author, and she lives in my old neighborhood, and mentions where I work in the book which is pretty interesting

Even though I have a decent background in a lot of this stuff, I did learn a good bit, especially about agriculture and industrial uses and how they are zoned

I didn’t love the nightlife section, although I did appreciate the fact she addressed it at all

I really strongly disagree with her support of historic districts, having lived in Georgetown, I think it did so much more harm than good

Overall a solid book about zoning

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bronin poses that she has the answers if only we would follow her guidance on how to organize our lives, or at least our cities. She does lay out cogent arguments for many things about our urban areas that we have often allowed to be the rationale for some fairly bad, often racist, ideas. However, I think she would almost just as soon pose some equally bad ideas about forcing us all into her idea of the perfect, livable urban area.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the writing and accessibility of this, but it’s very introductory. This would be a great read for someone just learning about urban planning and the influence of land use policy. But it’s a less useful text for the planning professional, as many of the ideas are pretty Planning 101. Still, I loved her use of real world examples, and the narrative style is accessible to all audiences.

[Ryan Fruehwirth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting recount of how zoning, despite its limitations and flaws, is really the only way cities can shape how they look and feel. Bronin writes well and brings up several topics, including large-scale industrial farms in rural areas and holistic streetscape approaches, that I hadn’t previously considered.

[Fiona · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decent introduction to how zoning can be good and bad. Not enough examples, but good for an overview. I did find it strange that Georgetown--"arguably the best neighborhood in the United States"-- was just briefly covered in the afterword at a similar level of detail to other examples in the rest of the book.

[Nicholas Kalogeresis · Rating 4 out of 5]

As an urban planning practitioner for over 30 years, I found this book very informative. It was good to see a more comprehensive perspective on how zoning shapes our cities than just its role in shaping the physical environment. My only concern with the book is the lack of photos and images to go along with the narratives on the many cities discussed in the book.

[agirlreads123 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Comprehensive overview of zoning and how it affects multiple aspects of daily life and the way we build communities. the author advocates for updated zoning codes that are unique for each location. the author also provides more zoning context about hot topic issues, such as suburban sprawl, car-dependency, unsustainable corporate farms. Overall, a very informative read, not too long.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book cites several interesting examples of good and bad zoning in the US and is written clearly for a non-academic audience. I wish that she had given a few examples of modern lenient zoning gone too far, as in Seattle, and that she had given a better description of Form-based code, which I think I still do not understand.

[Paloma · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had a tough time with this book. Perhaps it's my level of focus, but I found this to be a very dry read despite being a big non-fiction fan. Regardless, I appreciated the interesting take and breakdown of the merits of zoning used responsibly.

[Valentin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The mother Theresa of zoning. I'm no urban planner (yet attempting to find my footing into the profession) but it's great insight into that hemisphere. Examples are relevant of this generation and is able to factually demonstrate sharp contrast in her zoning perspectives.