For years, housing production has systematically privileged corporate developers while shutting out everyone else. But cities are starting to change that. In Tennessee, this change is taking the form of a new process for preapproved plans.
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I’d rather smother a boot in gravy and eat it than deal with a labyrinth of city regulations, procedures and fees. Loopholes are a great way to avoid that. Here are three loopholes to help you move forward when your project is running up against a bureaucratic nightmare
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Reforming the administration of a city's building or zoning code is just as important as reforming the code itself. Fortunately, shifting this approach is within the discretion of city staff, so they can turn an aggravating, time-consuming process into one that better serves everyone's needs.
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The practice of "grandfathering in" old buildings — letting them exist without meeting current building codes — is a good one. However, buildings lose this protected status if their owners perform renovations or additions, resulting in many buildings declining or sitting empty. It doesn't have to be this way.
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The unique planning and eclectic architecture of Savannah, GA, provide a PhD education on urban design—but there are also cautionary tales about development to be gleaned from this historic city.
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This Philadelphia museum has won regional and national praise, and titled a “Philadelphia Cultural Treasure.” Yet, that didn’t stop the Zoning Board of Adjustments from challenging the homegrown institution's right to operate.
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Wanting to encourage people toward using bikes for transportation is all fine and good, but not when it makes it harder for developers to build much-needed housing.
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If your city, like so many others, needs more housing and fast, then here’s a way some places are streamlining the process.
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This story about a revitalized church’s parking requirements might sound absurd, but it’s reflective of the very real and very absurd regulations most communities face when it comes to parking.
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Reopening a neighborhood store that was a fixture in its community for decades shouldn’t be this hard.
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Philadelphia is a great place to visit, but not because it’s a great place to park. City officials don’t seem to see it that way, though, given the recent restrictions placed on its outdoor dining program.
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“Community character" is often invoked to support exclusion and discrimination, but there are also communities whose unique "character" matters—a lot. How (if at all) should local government support such places?
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Many older homeowners face a tough choice: Age in a home that’s too large or inaccessible for them, or give up their property and move somewhere else. Here’s how one resident of Delta, BC, found a third option.
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A small, local, mixed-use business versus a new Amazon warehouse. Let’s put these two business proposals before the Shark Tank (Winnipeg edition).
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Although they stand in very different parts of the country, these college towns are spearheading the push to eliminate harmful, longstanding land-use policies.
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The problems with "community input" are many and obvious. One misguided response is to favor more top-down policy making, simply overriding the objections of local "NIMBYs." But there is a third way.
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Real-world examples of the administrative friction that holds back small-scale developers.
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What kind of zoning reform do we need in order to build strong towns?
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Incremental development today is far from the path of least resistance. To do it, you'll need the ability to navigate dozens of regulatory barriers.
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What can we do at the most immediate, local level when water reservoirs run low?
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