An Argument for the Benefits of Form-Based Codes to Aging Populations

For the AARP's Livable Communities website, Melissa Stanton sat down with attorney and planner Joel Russell, who last year became the executive director of the Form-Base Codes Institute.

The discussion starts with a discussion of the rise of Euclidean zoning and the dominance of the automobile before switching to the topic of how form-based codes can benefit the "50-plus population."

Here Russell explains that form-based codes are intended to break down traditional divisions in how communities are planned and developed: "The intent is to create places where people can live out their lives from childhood to old age, and can be in the same walkable community, albeit in a different type of housing at different stages of their lives." 

The interview totals five questions and answers. Russell debunks what he describes as seven myths about the impacts of form-based codes.