LAND USE AND ZONING
Commonly, suburbs include single-family homes with scattered commercial spaces and
exclude structures associated with urban settings—tall office or apartment buildings,
parking lots, plazas, boulevards, universities, and museums. Suburban zoning codes
reflect this basic land use dichotomy, so special zoning (conditional or special use
permits) is typically required for any unusual structure or uncommon land use. These
requirements may appear onerous or confusing to people who bring new (currently
unsupported) needs to a community.
In 2003, Yale University professor Delores Hayden wrote that “single-family zoning is
often too rigid and the regulatory system in mortgage banking has been formed around
the sale or resale of a one kind of house for one kind of family.” 11 Public policy in
general—and zoning ordinances in particular—should now consider social realities that
have unfolded over the past several decades, such as:
Deinstitutionalization of mentally ill and intellectually disabled
Equal opportunity
Protection orders available for victims of domestic violence
Longer life expectancy
Increased likelihood that adult children may live with parents (due to lack of living
wage jobs)
Independent living for people with disabilities (made possible in many ways by
technological advances)
Use of housing subsidies (e.g., Housing Choice Vouchers) outside of the city
Local food
Clean energy
Deindustrialization
Population growth
Evolution of American culture g&