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Why the U.S. Needs a National Zoning Atlas

Zoning is arguably the most important power of local government. Here’s how to make these arcane codes more easily understandable — and use that information to change your city. 

Single-family zoning currently dominates the U.S. landscape.

Single-family zoning currently dominates the U.S. landscape.

Photographer: Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg 

By
Sara Bronin

The day after we overhauled Hartford’s byzantine zoning code in 2016, a local attorney called to tell me that his children’s college fund was about to take a major hit.

He wasn’t joking. A zoning code regulates everything that gets built in a jurisdiction, from housing to open space. The Connecticut capital’s old code was so confusing that property owners often needed to hire a lawyer for even mundane projects like adding an electronic sign or a garage apartment. Cross-references went nowhere. Antiquated terms, including “servants,” endured. And every single project downtown required a public hearing — usually several.