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A Better Way to Zone: Ten Principles to Create More Livable Cities
Nearly all large American cities rely on zoning to regulate land use. According to Donald L. Elliott, however, zoning often discourages the very development that bigger cities need and want. In fact, Elliott thinks that zoning has become so complex that it is often dysfunctional and in desperate need of an overhaul. A Better Way to Zone explains precisely what has gone wrong and how it can be fixed.
A Better Way to Zone explores the constitutional and legal framework of zoning, its evolution over the course of the twentieth century, the reasons behind major reform efforts of the past, and the adverse impacts of most current city zoning systems. To unravel what has gone wrong, Elliott identifies several assumptions behind early zoning that no longer hold true, four new land use drivers that have emerged since zoning began, and basic elements of good urban governance that are violated by prevailing forms of zoning. With insight and clarity, Elliott then identifies ten sound principles for change that would avoid these mistakes, produce more livable cities, and make zoning simpler to understand and use. He also proposes five practical steps to get started on the road to zoning reform.
While recent discussion of zoning has focused on how cities should look, A Better Way to Zone does not follow that trend. Although New Urbanist tools, form-based zoning, and the SmartCode are making headlines both within and outside the planning profession, Elliott believes that each has limitations as a general approach to big city zoning. While all three trends include innovations that the profession badly needs, they are sometimes misapplied to situations where they do not work well. In contrast, A Better Way to Zone provides a vision of the future of zoning that is not tied to a particular picture of how cities should look, but is instead based on how cities should operate.
A Better Way to Zone explores the constitutional and legal framework of zoning, its evolution over the course of the twentieth century, the reasons behind major reform efforts of the past, and the adverse impacts of most current city zoning systems. To unravel what has gone wrong, Elliott identifies several assumptions behind early zoning that no longer hold true, four new land use drivers that have emerged since zoning began, and basic elements of good urban governance that are violated by prevailing forms of zoning. With insight and clarity, Elliott then identifies ten sound principles for change that would avoid these mistakes, produce more livable cities, and make zoning simpler to understand and use. He also proposes five practical steps to get started on the road to zoning reform.
While recent discussion of zoning has focused on how cities should look, A Better Way to Zone does not follow that trend. Although New Urbanist tools, form-based zoning, and the SmartCode are making headlines both within and outside the planning profession, Elliott believes that each has limitations as a general approach to big city zoning. While all three trends include innovations that the profession badly needs, they are sometimes misapplied to situations where they do not work well. In contrast, A Better Way to Zone provides a vision of the future of zoning that is not tied to a particular picture of how cities should look, but is instead based on how cities should operate.
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2008
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169 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 7, 2016
Since I'm not a planner or have years of experience thumbing through zoning ordinances, I imagine there's some nuance or message I'm missing. However, I did enjoy the overall message of the book: Euclidean zoning isn't getting us the results we want, so let's evolve it into something better. Donald Elliott is quite firm in his belief that current zoning shouldn't be thrown out -- after all, there was some motivation that created the monsters we have today. He argues that they can be changed to making the zoning, amending, and approval processes more predictable and flexible, addressing concerns of both citizens and developers.
I recommend it to anyone who wants some background on zoning and how things actually work, and how they could be better. For those with some planning or zoning background, if you can get your hands on chapter 2, that's the one to read to get an idea if the book will have something new to tell you about zoning. (Chapter 1 is a historical overview of zoning.)
I recommend it to anyone who wants some background on zoning and how things actually work, and how they could be better. For those with some planning or zoning background, if you can get your hands on chapter 2, that's the one to read to get an idea if the book will have something new to tell you about zoning. (Chapter 1 is a historical overview of zoning.)
July 26, 2017
Probably a 3+. Don Elliott is a principal in the Clarion Consulting Group, which is reviewing and assessing my county's land use regulations, and I wanted to get a sense of where they were coming from. It did a good job of that. It is well-written and did what I wanted. If you do not have some familiarity with zoning, I am not sure it would be good introduction, but for activists it is stimulating reading.
January 16, 2021
I love me some Donald Elliott. His Colorado Land Planning & Development Law taught me most property law concepts before I even knew I wanted to switch careers from planner to lawyer.
The good:
Elliott has a significant amount of knowledge to impart and a plain English writing style to do it. While I did not find this book as engaging as CO Land Planning, I never got lost on his meaning.
I also found myself nodding my head at most of the issues with hybrid Euclidean zoning he describes. I enjoyed that he identified problems that I hadn't considered before, such as how the tax base influences rezonings.
I will still use this book as a good reference point. Elliott is accessible and knowledgeable. Even if I don't support his conclusions, I like that he can give words to the problems.
The bad:
My criticisms are petty, substantive, and stylistic:
Petty: I read this book as a source for my law journal note. I wanted to understand what a zoning expert thought of my performance zoning journal topic. I'm docking half a star because the index does not adequately reflect how extensively he discusses performance zoning. He repeatedly mentions it compared to other zoning schemes, yet the index only identifies three early pages. I may have read this book sooner if I'd known how extensively he mentions performance zoning.
Substantively: As a planner, I confronted the same issues Elliott identifies. Unfortunately, Elliott has the same biases and desire for orthodoxy that I found so off-putting about the planning profession. When confronted with these issues, I made the preliminary conclusion that performance zoning most effectively answered the issues (flexible, yet predictable; doesn't artificially separate uses; focus on impacts rather than prescribing a static build environment). I'm not entirely convinced that a pure performance zoning scheme adequately answers all the issues, but it seems to best satisfy them.
Elliott clearly has a preference for form-based zoning and waves off performance zoning without adequately explaining why. He'll keep referring to performance zoning as "solving this particular problem" but then not discuss why it shouldn't be used. He'll profess his preference for form-based zoning but not adequately explain how it solves the issues he identifies. In my mind, including incredibly detailed architectural standards without acknowledging how people actually use those buildings adds to the complexity and rigidness of zoning codes. Perhaps I don't fully understand Elliott's preferences or how form-based codes answer the complaints. Perhaps Elliott (and many other planning experts) don't fully understand how performance zoning works in practice (or don't care to know).
The result, and where the book started to go off the rails, was his solutions. He proclaims it a "process" for amending zoning codes, but most of his solutions are just repeats of model zoning codes that he professes to like. For example, the goal of "depoliticizing final approvals" is a substantive, not procedural, choice.
He suggests solutions that would compound the issues he seeks to solve. In my experience, sticking with use-based systems, but making each use category broader or more abstract adds to confusion. Without looking it up, how is a citizen supposed to know whether a "personal service shop" includes or does not include a lawyer's office? You need to add a definition...which adds to the zoning code's length and complexity.
Perhaps these substantive contradictions would not bother me so much were it not for the stylistic criticism:
Style: The book is a series of lists. Lists are boring. Lists are abstract. Lists are completely interchangeable and, therefore, have no flow. He's listing issues. He's listing legal parameters. Listing solutions, etc.
What this book so desperately needs is concrete, experienced details. He references his experiences, but never tells a narrative or story that could explain them. I want to know an experience that convinced him that living with nonconformities worked. I want to see it/hear it/smell it, etc. I want to see what he sees with form-based codes and understand his dismissal of other solutions.
The three star review fits my general rating system. I think there are valid criticisms of his substance and style. But the book also gives clear and enlightening overviews existing zoning law's problems. I don't recommend the book. But I also think you can read it without getting frustrated. Especially with normative books, my experience depends on my normative views. I'm giving him some benefit of doubt on that.
Based on how he explains the issues, I'm guessing this book was published before or at the beginning of the Great Recession. I desperately want a second edition that has taken the last 12 years into account (housing market, Covid, tribal politics) and that fixes some of my criticisms.
The good:
Elliott has a significant amount of knowledge to impart and a plain English writing style to do it. While I did not find this book as engaging as CO Land Planning, I never got lost on his meaning.
I also found myself nodding my head at most of the issues with hybrid Euclidean zoning he describes. I enjoyed that he identified problems that I hadn't considered before, such as how the tax base influences rezonings.
I will still use this book as a good reference point. Elliott is accessible and knowledgeable. Even if I don't support his conclusions, I like that he can give words to the problems.
The bad:
My criticisms are petty, substantive, and stylistic:
Petty: I read this book as a source for my law journal note. I wanted to understand what a zoning expert thought of my performance zoning journal topic. I'm docking half a star because the index does not adequately reflect how extensively he discusses performance zoning. He repeatedly mentions it compared to other zoning schemes, yet the index only identifies three early pages. I may have read this book sooner if I'd known how extensively he mentions performance zoning.
Substantively: As a planner, I confronted the same issues Elliott identifies. Unfortunately, Elliott has the same biases and desire for orthodoxy that I found so off-putting about the planning profession. When confronted with these issues, I made the preliminary conclusion that performance zoning most effectively answered the issues (flexible, yet predictable; doesn't artificially separate uses; focus on impacts rather than prescribing a static build environment). I'm not entirely convinced that a pure performance zoning scheme adequately answers all the issues, but it seems to best satisfy them.
Elliott clearly has a preference for form-based zoning and waves off performance zoning without adequately explaining why. He'll keep referring to performance zoning as "solving this particular problem" but then not discuss why it shouldn't be used. He'll profess his preference for form-based zoning but not adequately explain how it solves the issues he identifies. In my mind, including incredibly detailed architectural standards without acknowledging how people actually use those buildings adds to the complexity and rigidness of zoning codes. Perhaps I don't fully understand Elliott's preferences or how form-based codes answer the complaints. Perhaps Elliott (and many other planning experts) don't fully understand how performance zoning works in practice (or don't care to know).
The result, and where the book started to go off the rails, was his solutions. He proclaims it a "process" for amending zoning codes, but most of his solutions are just repeats of model zoning codes that he professes to like. For example, the goal of "depoliticizing final approvals" is a substantive, not procedural, choice.
He suggests solutions that would compound the issues he seeks to solve. In my experience, sticking with use-based systems, but making each use category broader or more abstract adds to confusion. Without looking it up, how is a citizen supposed to know whether a "personal service shop" includes or does not include a lawyer's office? You need to add a definition...which adds to the zoning code's length and complexity.
Perhaps these substantive contradictions would not bother me so much were it not for the stylistic criticism:
Style: The book is a series of lists. Lists are boring. Lists are abstract. Lists are completely interchangeable and, therefore, have no flow. He's listing issues. He's listing legal parameters. Listing solutions, etc.
What this book so desperately needs is concrete, experienced details. He references his experiences, but never tells a narrative or story that could explain them. I want to know an experience that convinced him that living with nonconformities worked. I want to see it/hear it/smell it, etc. I want to see what he sees with form-based codes and understand his dismissal of other solutions.
The three star review fits my general rating system. I think there are valid criticisms of his substance and style. But the book also gives clear and enlightening overviews existing zoning law's problems. I don't recommend the book. But I also think you can read it without getting frustrated. Especially with normative books, my experience depends on my normative views. I'm giving him some benefit of doubt on that.
Based on how he explains the issues, I'm guessing this book was published before or at the beginning of the Great Recession. I desperately want a second edition that has taken the last 12 years into account (housing market, Covid, tribal politics) and that fixes some of my criticisms.
September 23, 2021
No conozco específicamente otros trabajos de Donald L. Elliot, así que llegué al libro por casualidad; sin embargo, encontré unas reflexiones interesantes al respecto de un tema que siempre me ha apasionado y en el que, a pesar de las diferencias culturales y legales, encuentro muchas analogías con la práctica en Colombia. Como dicen otros comentarios, no es un libro que tenga unas conclusiones "iluminadas" o "fuera de este mundo", pero pone en orden muchas ideas que si se llevan a la práctica de manera adecuada, pueden ser muy efectivas para mejorar realmente la aplicación de las normas urbanísticas.
Los primeros capítulos parecen un poco sosos y repetitivos, pero dan un contexto necesario en el cual, haciendo el ejercicio, se pueden ir encontrando situaciones análogas con las de la legislación y el sistema normativo de cada país. El autor se guarda toda la "emoción" para los capítulos 6, 7 y 8, donde explota ya la idea central del título. A pesar de que lo leí en períodos muy espaciados, iniciándolo, retomándolo, y volviéndolo a dejar, lo recomiendo para cualquier persona que trabaje en temas de control urbano, normativa, planeación y demás. Ayuda a organizar temas que, muchas veces, uno no sabe por donde tomar.
Los primeros capítulos parecen un poco sosos y repetitivos, pero dan un contexto necesario en el cual, haciendo el ejercicio, se pueden ir encontrando situaciones análogas con las de la legislación y el sistema normativo de cada país. El autor se guarda toda la "emoción" para los capítulos 6, 7 y 8, donde explota ya la idea central del título. A pesar de que lo leí en períodos muy espaciados, iniciándolo, retomándolo, y volviéndolo a dejar, lo recomiendo para cualquier persona que trabaje en temas de control urbano, normativa, planeación y demás. Ayuda a organizar temas que, muchas veces, uno no sabe por donde tomar.
November 12, 2010
The recommendations in this book for how to fix zoning are a little too obvious to be really useful: "integrate new regulations into existing code instead of stapling it to the end" - duh - it would be amazing if any city thought that not integrating was a good idea.
The strength of this book is its overview of zoning - if you ever find yourself in the unfortunate situation of needing to know about zoning code, this is a great place to start. I am a zoning nerd, though, so I enjoyed reading it, even if some of it was a bit basic.
The strength of this book is its overview of zoning - if you ever find yourself in the unfortunate situation of needing to know about zoning code, this is a great place to start. I am a zoning nerd, though, so I enjoyed reading it, even if some of it was a bit basic.
May 3, 2013
A great intro to zoning. I originally bought this as an e-book with some time to kill and as a somewhat last minute attempt to grasp some zoning stuff for a municipal job. I find myself coming back to this as a reference for some basic concepts and ideas, specifically chapter 1. The book gets a bit weaker towards the end, but it is overall a nice zoning text, which is not easy to come by. This would be good for an undergrad or graduate course about zoning-related concepts, no doubt; it acts like a standard text, but is not as dry.
March 15, 2009
Exploring the ever sexy topic of zoning, Ellott provides a concise overview of its history in the US and how it has gone astray. He offers 10 ways that cities can improve their current zoning systems. None of his suggestions are especially revolutionary, but they are sound.
April 13, 2011
Short little book on the history of zoning (snooze, right?) that is actually quite readable and has substantive recommendations for cities that would really improve land use and zoning. Highly recommend to my nerdy planner brethren.
Want to read
August 29, 2012I think I'll come back to this one.
April 30, 2015
Good summary of the past and future of municipal zoning in the United States.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews