David Steel explains how Buffalo's zoning code not only makes it impossible to build the type of neighborhoods people love, but also guarantees that low density development pays less taxes.
"The result of this legal and economic attack on urbanism is to create a city full of parking lots and empty space," says Steel.
To prove his point, Steel compares a much-loved 1890s building on Elmwood to a bank building with parking lot on the same street:
"In raw dollar terms the dense apartment building is paying $6773 more in taxes than the bank. But if you consider that the bank property, if built out to the level of the apartment building, could be paying as much as $37,000 or approximately $26,000 more than it currently pays. So you can see that the people of Buffalo are forking over a substantial sum so that M&T bank can maintain a big convenient free parking lot."
FULL STORY: How Buffalo’s Zoning Code Subsidizes Sprawl, Costs the City $$$
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Commentary: Minimum Lot Sizes Drive Up Housing Costs
How making residential building requirements more flexible can ease the housing crisis and make neighborhoods more livable for more households.
Seattle Works To Revise Comprehensive Plan
The city has developed five concepts for updating its comprehensive plan to increase density and reverse the legacy of exclusionary zoning.
National Parks Layoffs Will Cause Communities to Lose Billions
Thousands of essential park workers were laid off this week, just before the busy spring break season.
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Delivering for America Plan Will Downgrade Mail Service in at Least 49.5 Percent of Zip Codes
Republican and Democrat lawmakers criticize the plan for its disproportionate negative impact on rural communities.
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Balancing Bombs and Butterflies: How the National Guard Protects a Rare Species
The National Guard at Fort Indiantown Gap uses GIS technology and land management strategies to balance military training with conservation efforts, ensuring the survival of the rare eastern regal fritillary butterfly.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
EMC Planning Group, Inc.
Planetizen
Planetizen
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service