Why read Zoned in the USA?

Book cover of Zoned in the USA: The Origins and Implications of American Land-Use Regulation

Book description

Why are American cities, suburbs, and towns so distinct? Compared to European cities, those in the United States are characterized by lower densities and greater distances; neat, geometric layouts; an abundance of green space; a greater level of social segregation reflected in space; and-perhaps most noticeably-a greater share of individual,…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Zoned in the USA as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

William A. Fischel

Author

Hirt’s title might make you think it is just about the United States, but her well-written book is one of the rare instances of an insightful comparison of zoning policies in the other high-income nations of the world. Zoning actually started in Germany in the late nineteenth century and was imported to the US at the beginning of the twentieth. It was seriously modified on our shores. Rather than orchestrating the orderly development of mixed-use neighborhoods, Americans isolated the single-family, owner-occupied house on a zoning pedestal that it rarely enjoys in other countries.

From William's list on why zoning isn’t as boring as you think.