Category: Urban Planning
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Urban Sprawl
Effect What the evidence shows Planning use Driving and traffic Sprawl increases vehicle miles traveled. Judge outlying sites by how many daily trips will need a car, not only by how many lots they yield. Habitat and farmland Sprawl consumes habitat and farmland. From 1900 to 2000, more than 25% of habitats in U.S. urban…
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Zoning Basics
A notice goes up for a new building beside your house, and you wonder what is zoning and whether it decides this. Zoning is local law that sets what may be built and used in each part of a city. Zoning is one working tool within the wider practice of city planning. If you want…
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Urban Planning Basics
A notice about a new building on your street raises a fair question: what is urban planning, and who decides what gets built? It is the work of shaping land use, infrastructure and community development through rules, long-range plans and public decisions. Quick answer: start with zoning if your question is about a specific lot,…
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Smart Growth
What is smart growth? It is an approach to community design that connects housing, transportation and land use. For a proposed project, the best fit is one where homes, shops, jobs and transit choices sit close together. Smart growth is one tool within what is urban planning, the wider practice of shaping how communities use…
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Eminent Domain and Land Acquisition
Situation What is supported Planning use Land needed for a public project The taking can include only land needed, or necessary, for the project, such as a road. Check which parts of your parcel the project actually requires before accepting that the whole parcel is affected. Payment for the land Just compensation is meant to…
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Master Planned Communities
What is a master planned community? It is a development designed as a whole, with homes, amenities, shops, schools and green space planned together from the start rather than added lot by lot. The right model depends on what you want it to provide. Imagine two listings at similar prices. One is a street of…
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Zoning Variances and Rezoning
What is a zoning variance? It is an exception to the zoning rules that apply to a single lot, usually for a dimensional standard such as a setback or height limit, granted by a local board only when the applicant meets the state’s legal test. A variance is one of several tools that shape land…