Meta tags:

Headings (most frequently used words):

the, wednesday, 26, in, and, of, june, may, 23, thursday, april, monday, march, about, me, files, city, general, charlottesville, metro, journals, resources, blog, archive, riding, tide, norfolk, edward, murray, bassett, origins, zoning, nature, adaptable, housing, new, census, geographies, tell, an, ambiguous, urban, story,

Text of the page (most frequently used words):
the (303), and (102), that (57), for (47), this (43), zoning (39), urban (37), area (31), but (29), not (27), have (25), more (25), areas (25), are (24), density (23), was (23), urbanized (23), homes (23), #housing (22), from (21), 2010 (19), land (19), over (19), some (19), city (18), new (18), with (18), growth (17), population (17), 2000 (17), between (17), cities (16), bassett (16), were (15), would (15), these (13), all (13), had (13), people (12), has (12), very (12), can (12), change (12), out (11), will (11), just (11), only (11), one (11), their (11), neighborhood (10), decade (10), could (10), san (10), light (10), even (10), its (10), may (9), tide (9), public (9), about (9), home (9), many (9), other (9), top (9), expansion (9), census (9), most (9), might (9), way (9), transportation (8), use (8), tend (8), increased (8), much (8), grew (8), than (8), case (8), they (8), euclid (8), april (7), around (7), square (7), older (7), because (7), also (7), which (7), ten (7), virginia (7), per (7), decades (7), least (7), 000 (7), before (7), into (7), there (7), family (7), years (7), time (7), his (7), august (6), november (6), february (6), march (6), norfolk (6), buildings (6), development (6), average (6), right (6), down (6), probably (6), fact (6), less (6), own (6), while (6), rank (6), beach (6), uses (6), single (6), them (6), built (6), adaptable (6), same (6), order (6), been (6), apartment (6), court (6), rail (6), september (5), october (5), june (5), policy (5), metropolitan (5), charlottesville (5), york (5), places (5), transit (5), general (5), daniel (5), nairn (5), posted (5), regulations (5), two (5), houses (5), low (5), high (5), used (5), any (5), number (5), who (5), name (5), house (5), like (5), made (5), rental (5), what (5), switched (5), likely (5), when (5), however (5), form (5), investment (5), district (5), tool (5), code (5), infrastructure (5), power (5), stations (5), december (4), january (4), next (4), american (4), spaces (4), center (4), place (4), scale (4), how (4), class (4), system (4), list (4), comments (4), densest (4), local (4), behind (4), different (4), results (4), without (4), those (4), base (4), mile (4), small (4), rate (4), after (4), several (4), higher (4), both (4), far (4), such (4), long (4), kinds (4), full (4), last (4), types (4), needs (4), certain (4), owned (4), owner (4), conditions (4), multifamily (4), tenure (4), better (4), others (4), units (4), should (4), did (4), major (4), residential (4), larger (4), against (4), property (4), 1922 (4), still (4), well (4), parking (4), courts (4), constitutional (4), safety (4), welfare (4), regulation (4), too (4), done (4), day (4), work (3), under (3), july (3), 2009 (3), 2012 (3), blog (3), institute (3), america (3), smart (3), project (3), urbanism (3), complete (3), streets (3), greater (3), community (3), planners (3), planning (3), neighborhoods (3), market (3), making (3), demand (3), reading (3), boundaries (3), profile (3), california (3), remain (3), either (3), federal (3), see (3), here (3), although (3), orleans (3), course (3), country (3), suburban (3), construction (3), increase (3), lots (3), lompoc (3), diego (3), increases (3), towns (3), now (3), atlanta (3), 683 (3), charlotte (3), phoenix (3), held (3), terms (3), steady (3), particularly (3), whole (3), once (3), interesting (3), 523 (3), 372 (3), 500 (3), 150 (3), among (3), americans (3), moving (3), based (3), geographies (3), unlike (3), must (3), 1990 (3), didn (3), become (3), changes (3), happened (3), scaled (3), today (3), topic (3), region (3), rented (3), occupied (3), option (3), households (3), year (3), already (3), during (3), ownership (3), switch (3), you (3), think (3), income (3), almost (3), common (3), adaptability (3), restrictions (3), your (3), three (3), healthy (3), detached (3), codes (3), early (3), edward (3), murray (3), air (3), being (3), owners (3), prevent (3), downtown (3), business (3), pass (3), height (3), health (3), reaction (3), first (3), then (3), ordinance (3), benefit (3), coming (3), building (3), put (3), ride (3), station (3), ridership (3), creative (2), 2008 (2), 112 (2), 2011 (2), riding (2), victoria (2), original (2), good (2), congress (2), space (2), metro (2), uva (2), tomorrow (2), imagine (2), missoula (2), human (2), seattle (2), forward (2), supply (2), life (2), decision (2), creation (2), posts (2), county (2), measurement (2), water (2), sharp (2), maximize (2), person (2), dense (2), loss (2), wake (2), note (2), natural (2), disaster (2), sprawl (2), hard (2), foreclosures (2), live (2), provo (2), orem (2), explanation (2), outward (2), sierra (2), vista (2), show (2), accurate (2), certainly (2), dropped (2), gives (2), big (2), picture (2), dark (2), purple (2), greatest (2), rapid (2), mesa (2), another (2), adding (2), philadelphia (2), expanding (2), austin (2), dallas (2), fort (2), worth (2), houston (2), large (2), blue (2), francisco (2), oakland (2), jose (2), struck (2), taken (2), financing (2), future (2), lines (2), little (2), 282 (2), caused (2), colorado (2), springs (2), especially (2), consider (2), 204 (2), 319 (2), 997 (2), 703 (2), santa (2), luis (2), clusters (2), 270 (2), 158 (2), 888 (2), 814 (2), 509 (2), port (2), 095 (2), 550 (2), 513 (2), woodland (2), 182 (2), 481 (2), delano (2), los (2), angeles (2), bureau (2), ever (2), story (2), things (2), using (2), set (2), factors (2), important (2), arbitrary (2), looking (2), qualify (2), along (2), corridor (2), reference (2), means (2), states (2), densities (2), methodology (2), changed (2), considerably (2), back (2), process (2), differently (2), each (2), every (2), proportion (2), balance (2), find (2), themselves (2), renting (2), attractive (2), according (2), starts (2), warming (2), bathtub (2), achieve (2), sometimes (2), adapt (2), agency (2), government (2), period (2), somewhat (2), idea (2), provide (2), term (2), turns (2), conversion (2), adapting (2), survey (2), followed (2), 1985 (2), million (2), stock (2), able (2), create (2), correlation (2), ones (2), typically (2), study (2), deed (2), ordinances (2), associations (2), clear (2), direction (2), viable (2), allow (2), seeking (2), economically (2), need (2), true (2), analysis (2), flexible (2), further (2), bedroom (2), smaller (2), nature (2), practice (2), social (2), justice (2), private (2), why (2), argued (2), primary (2), off (2), residents (2), toward (2), below (2), purpose (2), elected (2), law (2), nuisance (2), advised (2), zone (2), wealthy (2), free (2), taking (2), zones (2), don (2), districts (2), access (2), wrote (2), lead (2), reasonable (2), really (2), popular (2), return (2), middle (2), setback (2), limitations (2), effect (2), concerned (2), morals (2), exactly (2), meaning (2), supreme (2), test (2), police (2), powers (2), allowed (2), village (2), ohio (2), passed (2), published (2), leaving (2), justices (2), anticipated (2), industrial (2), extent (2), excesses (2), yet (2), favored (2), localities (2), aesthetics (2), purposes (2), sections (2), take (2), advantage (2), open (2), character (2), residences (2), prevents (2), stabilizes (2), limits (2), overall (2), national (2), comprehensive (2), wednesday (2), park (2), newtown (2), road (2), end (2), line (2), hampton (2), roads (2), gross (2), acre (2), fairly (2), destinations (2), success (2), skip (2), licensed, commons, attribution, sharealike, license, 2007, 129, archive, walk, score, tools, triple, canopy, green, planetizen, lincoln, john, luton, photo, stream, grist, magazine, fused, grid, round, technology, brookings, journals, resources, wash, cycle, rebuilding, ryan, advent, washington, beyonddc, alliance, choice, realcentralva, albemarle, infratalk, garden, student, association, veritas, venustas, workbench, research, milwaukee, polis, infrastructurist, fix, streetsblog, culture, design, proper, planologie, pantograph, overhead, wire, old, urbanist, nrdc, switchboard, kaid, benfield, designer, musings, christian, metropolis, hill, matthew, yglesias, pps, cars, hugeasscity, drive, richard, florida, cooltown, studios, connecticut, yankee, west, comforts, brand, avenue, atlantic, town, parts, accessories, biking, com, browse, where, 111, philosophical, basis, personal, google, earth, travelogues, food, sources, connection, files, view, subscribe, atom, 137, cites, topography, edges, within, lagging, lives, half, times, give, suffered, dramatic, hurricane, katrina, expanded, 7th, interacting, knocked, 31st, ahead, denver, seeing, kind, hit, extensive, corresponding, utah, straight, spreading, flukes, counting, method, odd, calculations, constricted, legitimate, claim, camp, pendleton, marine, corp, artificial, boost, notable, portland, short, respectable, 672, forget, heavy, agriculture, dominate, levels, leave, look, increasing, amount, habitation, maps, selected, paint, bookends, miles, fastest, faster, measures, perhaps, ammunition, desert, oasis, world, sustainable, surprise, ranked, kept, pace, total, texas, metropolises, positive, news, grey, bay, shrunk, marin, spots, silicon, valley, strong, moderate, tricky, characterize, divide, rates, always, lags, shown, represents, pre, recession, reality, homebuilding, commercial, thorough, snapshots, discerning, come, showed, absorbing, additional, thousand, official, negative, drop, removal, military, impressive, minimal, footprint, 181, 1981, 189, 597, antonio, 198, 518, raleigh, 306, 741, 442, chicago, 347, 146, 364, 660, 779, arlington, 682, 645, 16451, greenfield, 269, 25943, soledad, 471, 9774, orange, cove, 689, 7080, guadalupe, 9616, mountain, 735, 29742, paula, 755, 24091, 985, 4988, mattawa, 162, 14490, parlier, 016, 2867, richgrove, 575, 590, 991, lady, lake, 616, 978, 187, 287, 559, 409, 618, 037, 732, 310, 956, 746, 763, 320, 738, lodi, 936, 502, 386, 413, madera, 948, 958, 433, corvallis, 988, 194, 154, 094, 478, 130, 447, maria, 742, 804, 745, 706, 901, 5721, 219, obispo, 715, 857, 168, 179139, 482, 819, 753, 929, 6107, 165, 074, vallejo, 772, 678, 8830, 397, lewiston, 869, 507, 4697, grand, forks, 967, 388, 21237, 133, fairfield, 049, 451, 105, 38494, 153, arthur, 6345, 14860, 579, 251, 109580, 899, pop, decreases, 525, 416, 886, 011, las, vegas, henderson, 716, 170, 802, 459, honolulu, 487, 312, 155, 794, davis, 450, 351, 295, newark, 820, 285, 664, 496, 136, 266, 281, 212, 999, 736, 996, anaheim, lived, defined, finding, suggest, featured, walkable, diversity, close, proximity, nuanced, mean, considered, requires, complex, mapping, criteria, impervious, surfaces, incorporated, map, description, facts, ground, minimum, threshold, core, tracts, spread, indefinitely, contiguous, jump, hop, sparsely, populated, continue, point, acres, definition, considering, roadways, leftover, united, troubling, actually, computing, comes, applying, say, witnessed, convergence, became, throughout, arranged, itself, inside, lists, measured, determines, announced, tell, ambiguous, monday, optimal, constantly, shifting, fluctuations, correcting, oversupplying, combination, demographic, financial, falling, hot, slow, enough, convert, existing, premise, finance, sell, inventory, bidders, agree, manage, rentals, experiment, intended, unload, holdings, affordable, opportunities, avoid, squashing, recovery, prices, naturally, outset, lifespan, regionally, demands, inevitable, outlook, envision, structure, needed, lend, office, researchers, picked, nation, attributes, strength, happening, conventional, trickle, depreciated, value, eventually, converted, unit, maybe, storyline, supported, data, rent, noted, talking, revolving, doors, remained, consecutive, couple, homeowners, governments, forbid, heavily, regulate, depending, perspective, promote, stability, keep, lower, distance, since, occupancy, suburbs, newer, subdivisions, variables, explained, legal, barriers, pretty, impede, presidents, quite, openly, superior, continues, nudge, families, downturn, raise, injecting, succession, occupants, adjust, changing, centuries, proclaimed, homeownership, absorb, renters, growing, holds, confined, dataset, begins, authors, speculate, reflecting, accommodate, renter, floor, rarely, equipped, accessory, outer, central, mostly, quarters, reverse, attached, remarkably, scored, highly, daptable, townhouses, duplexes, released, program, recent, numbers, townhouse, thursday, ubiquitous, nobody, bothers, defend, anymore, rounds, critiques, launched, sides, proponents, decrying, exclusionary, practices, rights, groups, leveling, intervention, academics, urbanists, environmentalists, opposed, strict, separation, controls, part, mainstream, resistant, attacks, few, counterarguments, defense, traditional, aware, instructive, read, planner, passionately, sixty, compelling, pulled, together, arguments, favor, apply, concern, underscored, scenarios, example, asserted, skyscrapers, sound, anyway, virtual, arms, race, goods, privacy, scenery, truce, everyone, signaling, investors, expect, markets, know, buying, creates, assurance, product, fundamentally, reason, developers, ardent, supporters, stages, worry, slippery, slope, regulating, accomplish, similar, latter, applied, comprehensively, adjusted, bodies, meet, evolving, disputes, impacts, settled, through, claims, expensive, trend, suburbanization, underway, losing, tax, reminiscent, contemporary, argument, shoppers, boxes, eliminating, possibility, writes, buy, seem, counterexamples, opposite, thoroughfares, businesses, giving, numerous, customers, suitable, economic, impact, achieved, deflating, real, estate, bubbles, facilitate, facilities, notice, absence, moral, ideological, language, words, utopian, academic, envisioning, rather, politically, astute, pragmatist, addressing, chamber, commerce, worldly, audience, deliberately, distanced, himself, presenting, regulatory, cutting, edge, present, segregation, mention, beautification, movements, focus, squarely, issued, caution, tucked, paragraph, insight, appropriate, scope, explicitly, forbids, instead, favoring, broad, thought, worried, concentrating, poverty, perpetuating, throw, breach, protect, believed, chilling, causing, killed, infancy, remember, probing, legally, father, toddler, relate, series, tests, takes, establish, exact, something, simple, smash, carrots, took, control, heartened, successes, want, push, luck, pamphlet, cautionary, advice, prohibit, entirely, paid, special, attention, landmark, prohibiting, smokestack, school, thing, allowing, share, detract, yes, wrong, upheld, thereby, granting, opinion, delivered, sutherland, length, parasites, chain, utter, destruction, benefited, ruling, easily, gone, previously, broader, severely, chastened, doubt, odds, victory, grown, exponentially, five, hearing, reminded, living, democratically, imposed, weighed, allowable, raises, question, relieved, fought, scrutiny, protection, selling, points, honest, moments, felt, frankenstein, persuasively, responsibility, chaos, grow, reinforce, expense, begun, artificially, restructure, 20th, century, never, seen, expected, bulwark, happen, follow, forgotten, history, relation, arbitrarily, whim, purely, sentimental, unjust, discrimination, uphold, result, accomplished, classify, segregate, situation, declaring, particular, pointed, resulted, destroying, entire, section, often, constructed, surroundings, created, moreover, interfering, bulk, circulation, monopolizing, rays, sun, otherwise, fall, upon, bringing, necessary, accompaniments, disturbing, noises, incident, traffic, occupation, parked, automobiles, portions, thus, detracting, depriving, children, privilege, quiet, play, enjoyed, until, finally, desirability, utterly, destroyed, mere, parasite, greatly, retarded, ambler, realty, richmond, boston, previous, radical, experimentation, encourages, manages, maximizes, vacant, corner, improved, speculation, sentimentality, values, landowner, compelled, skyscraper, neighbor, prisoners, dilemma, cooperation, yields, emerging, adopting, following, summary, reflection, municipal, league, writing, six, earlier, preeminent, authority, origins, week, chance, addition, operation, utilized, eastern, traveled, macarthur, conveniently, ferry, portsmouth, walked, blocks, crossed, river, serendipitously, catch, memorial, parade, street, obvious, current, successful, terribly, robert, cervero, quarter, cost, effective, systems, statistic, does, bode, route, defies, standard, rule, ideally, ends, usage, directions, travel, decided, left, stranded, service, actual, weekday, trips, 700, significantly, exceeds, initial, 900, projection, wonder, undercounted, our, lot, noticed, riders, handed, strangers, arriving, adequately, judge, shape, highway, sizable, garage, erected, door, grows, shifts, burden, away, valuable, redeveloped, productive, poised, oriented, specifically, zoned, utilize, fullest, supportive, ironically, officials, twice, net, potential, ultimately, depend, seems, designated, proposed, identified, alternative, alignment, again, voters, decide, whether, efforts, support, hold, referendum, purchased, plan, navy, oceanfront, opt, estimated, sidebar, main, discovering,

Text of the page (random words):
tide light rail an addition to the transportation system in norfolk virginia that s coming up on one full year of operation we utilized the park and ride at the newtown road station at the eastern end of the line and traveled to macarthur square in the center of norfolk conveniently the same day pass could be used for the ferry to portsmouth so we walked the two blocks down to the port and crossed the river just in time to serendipitously catch a memorial day parade down high street it s not exactly obvious that the tide in its current form would be successful the hampton roads region is not terribly dense robert cervero has estimated that light rail needs an average of 30 people per gross acre around the stations to be in the top quarter of cost effective transit systems in the country the stations along the tide average around 5 people per gross acre overall public transportation ridership in the hampton roads area has been very much below the national average a statistic that does not bode well for new investment on top of this the route defies a fairly standard rule of transit planning a transit system ideally should have destinations at both ends in order to maximize usage for both directions of travel when virginia beach decided to opt out it left the end of the line stranded in the middle yet the service has done fairly well in terms of actual ridership between august 2011 and february 2012 weekday trips have average around 4 700 which significantly exceeds the initial 2 900 projection for the first year i wonder if ridership might be undercounted somewhat on our way back to the parking lot i noticed that some riders who were done for the day handed off their day pass to strangers who were just arriving however it s still several decades too early to adequately judge the tide like all infrastructure the tide will likely shape the conditions of its own success over time the newtown road station might remain a park and ride because of its highway access but i can imagine a sizable parking garage being erected next door as demand grows it s already the most popular station light rail shifts some burden of parking away from downtown so that the more valuable downtown land can be redeveloped into more productive uses the stations in between are poised for transit oriented development norfolk planners have anticipated this and specifically zoned the areas around these stations to utilize the infrastructure to its fullest extent neighborhood associations in the area are also supportive ironically the same low densities around the stations that might have caused elected officials to think twice about the whole project could be a net benefit there s potential the long term success of the tide will ultimately depend on its expansion to other major destinations in the region especially the virginia beach oceanfront and the norfolk navy base the city of virginia beach seems to be warming to the idea their 2009 comprehensive plan designated most of the proposed corridor for growth and identified light rail as a viable transportation alternative then the city purchased right of way that could be used for the alignment in 2010 once again virginia beach will hold a referendum on light rail in november voters will decide whether to use reasonable efforts to support the financing and development of the tide light rail into virginia beach posted by daniel nairn at 11 13 pm 43 comments wednesday may 23 edward murray bassett and the origins of zoning topic reading list the following is a summary of and reflection on zoning by edward murray bassett published by the national municipal league in 1922 after writing the first comprehensive zoning ordinance for new york city six years earlier bassett had become the preeminent authority in the u s on this emerging land use tool this is his case to cities for adopting a zoning code zoning has become so ubiquitous in american cities that nobody bothers to defend the practice anymore steady rounds of critiques have been launched against zoning from all sides from social justice proponents decrying exclusionary practices to private property rights groups leveling against government intervention to public policy academics to urbanists and environmentalists opposed to strict separation of uses and controls on density however for the most part mainstream zoning codes have been very resistant to these attacks over the years not much has changed and in fact there are even very few general counterarguments made in defense of traditional zoning at least that i m aware of it s just the way we do things this is why it s instructive to read an early planner who argued passionately for the creation of zoning codes in 1922 there were only sixty codes in place in american cities and edward murray bassett made a compelling case for many more states to allow this new practice i ve pulled together the primary arguments he made in favor of zoning many of which still apply today 1 cooperation yields overall larger return on investment for all property owners this was bassett s primary concern one that he underscored with a number of prisoners dilemma scenarios for example in some of the larger cities a landowner in the business district is almost compelled to put up a skyscraper because if he put up a low building his next neighbor would put up a higher one that would take advantage of his light and air he asserted that skyscrapers were probably not a sound investment in their own right but they were built anyway in a virtual arms race for public goods of light air privacy and scenery zoning was the truce that made everyone better off 2 zoning stabilizes building and property values by signaling to investors what they can expect from a certain district markets work when people know what they are buying and zoning creates some assurance that the product will not change fundamentally this reason is why housing developers were among the most ardent supporters of zoning in the early stages 3 constitutional limits on local police powers would prevent zoning excesses so residents need not worry about a slippery slope toward regulating aesthetics and sentimentality more on this below 4 zoning is better than deed restrictions which were already being used to accomplish a similar purpose unlike the latter tool zoning is applied comprehensively and can be adjusted by elected bodies to meet evolving needs 5 zoning is better than nuisance law without a zoning code in place disputes between property owners about impacts can only be settled through common law nuisance claims this is more expensive and arbitrary than zoning 6 zoning prevents the wealthy from leaving the city by 1922 the trend toward suburbanization was well underway bassett advised cities to zone for the kinds of low density neighborhoods the wealthy were seeking in order to prevent them from moving further out and losing the tax base this is reminiscent of a contemporary argument that cities must provide free downtown parking in order to prevent shoppers from taking their business to the suburban big boxes 7 zoning limits land speculation by eliminating the possibility for large scale buildings in low density zones bassett writes owners of vacant corner lots that had been held out of use so that apartment houses might be built have in almost every case improved them as high class one family residences ok i don t buy this one there would seem to be counterexamples that go the opposite direction 8 zoning maximizes public infrastructure investment major thoroughfares create natural businesses districts by giving access to numerous customers however if homes or other less suitable uses are built on major streets the full economic impact of the public infrastructure is not achieved 9 zoning manages and stabilizes growth he wrote zoning encourages growth while at the same time it prevents too rapid changes a good code would lead to steady growth without any expanding or deflating real estate bubbles this would also facilitate reasonable planning of public infrastructure and facilities notice the complete absence of social moral or ideological language these are not the words of a utopian academic envisioning the city of the future but rather a politically astute pragmatist addressing a chamber of commerce or some other worldly audience bassett deliberately distanced himself from any radical experimentation even while presenting what was on the regulatory cutting edge of the time unlike some previous planners he did not present zoning as a tool for class segregation he didn t even really mention class or housing conditions or city beautification or any of the other movements popular at the time his focus was squarely on return on investment but bassett issued a very interesting caution tucked into the middle of a paragraph that gives some insight into an appropriate purpose and scope for this tool he advised cities not to pass zoning that explicitly forbids apartment buildings in single family home zones instead favoring one broad residential zone for all types of housing he thought setback and height limitations could be used to achieve the same effect bassett was certainly not worried about concentrating poverty or perpetuating sprawl as we might be today he was concerned that the courts would throw out such regulations as a breach of the constitutional power to protect health safety morals and general welfare if this happened he believed it would have a chilling effect for all cities causing an over reaction that could very well have killed zoning in its infancy we have to remember that the courts were still probing exactly how far land use regulations legally could go as a father of a toddler i can relate to the series of tests it takes to establish the exact meaning of something as simple as don t smash your carrots it took the u s supreme court decades to test the meaning of local police powers to control land use first the court allowed building height regulation in boston then setback regulation in richmond then regulation of industrial uses in los angeles bassett was heartened by these successes but he didn t want to push his luck the village of euclid ohio passed their zoning ordinance just as bassett published this pamphlet leaving them without the benefit of his cautionary advice their ordinance did in fact prohibit multifamily buildings entirely from single family districts and the supreme court justices paid special attention to this fact during the landmark village of euclid v ambler realty co case prohibiting a smokestack next to a school is one thing but would allowing different housing types to share a district really detract from the health safety or welfare of the public yes as it turns out bassett was wrong the court upheld euclid s code thereby granting more power to zoning than he had anticipated from the opinion of the court delivered by justice sutherland at length with particular reference to apartment houses it is pointed out that the development of detached house sections is greatly retarded by the coming of apartment houses which has sometimes resulted in destroying the entire section for private house purposes that in such sections very often the apartment house is a mere parasite constructed in order to take advantage of the open spaces and attractive surroundings created by the residential character of the district moreover the coming of one apartment house is followed by others interfering by their height and bulk with the free circulation of air and monopolizing the rays of the sun which otherwise would fall upon the smaller homes and bringing as their necessary accompaniments the disturbing noises incident to increased traffic and business and the occupation by means of moving and parked automobiles of larger portions of the streets thus detracting from their safety and depriving children of the privilege of quiet and open spaces for play enjoyed by those in more favored localities until finally the residential character of the neighborhood and its desirability as a place of detached residences are utterly destroyed of course if you happened to live in one of those parasites that lead to a chain reaction of utter destruction it s not clear how your own welfare is benefited by this ruling in any way euclid could easily have gone the other way the ohio federal district court previously struck down euclid s zoning declaring in the last analysis the result to be accomplished is to classify the population and segregate them according to their income or situation in life a euclid loss would have still allowed certain form based regulations and limitations on industrial uses but broader land use regulation would have been severely chastened bassett was probably right to doubt the odds of a victory in 1922 but the number of zoning ordinances had grown exponentially in just five years the justices hearing the euclid case were reminded of the 24 million u s residents living under a democratically imposed zoning code as they weighed the allowable extent of this power i have not been able to find bassett s reaction to the euclid decision but it raises an interesting question was he relieved that the zoning he fought so hard for passed its most important test of constitutional scrutiny or was he concerned that this power was being taken too far after all the constitutional protection against excesses was one of his original selling points of zoning zoning must be done in relation to the public health safety morals and general welfare if it is done arbitrarily or by whim or for aesthetics or for purely sentimental purposes or with unjust discrimination the courts will not uphold it i d like to think that bassett at least in some honest moments felt a little like dr frankenstein he had persuasively to me at least argued for a community s responsibility to form some order out of chaos only to see zoning grow to reinforce the benefit of favored localities at the expense of others he wrote that zoning should follow nature and it should not be forgotten that the city has a history yet this tool had begun to artificially restructure the 20th century city into a form never before seen he had expected the courts to be a bulwark against taking this power too far but that did not happen posted by daniel nairn at 6 39 pm 20 comments thursday april 26 the nature of adaptable housing an older urban townhouse in a healthy metro area could be rented or owned every region needs a certain proportion of rented homes and owned homes and this optimal balance is constantly shifting with fluctuations in housing market demand right now most areas of the u s find themselves correcting for years of oversupplying owner occupied homes a combination of demographic and financial conditions have made renting a more attractive option or at least the only option for many households according to the most recent census numbers multifamily housing starts increased by 70 ...