Thank you for this thoughtful essay. I would just note, that, as you say about organizing in general, organizing for zoning reform can itself help create community. At least that's what's happened here in my neighborhood of Boston. It's brought a lot of people together to make housing easier to build, and in the meantime we have created really strong ties with each other. And folks really LOVE meeting in person. We've also started a book group, coffee hours, and happy hours. In the end, the ties that we've created with each other and with the community, may be what's most long lasting.
Economics and land use regulations are intertwined. In urbanism topics, "There's no market for _____" is typically because _____ is downstream of a rigged market (i.e. zoning & co).
Definitely coming back to read fully later — but on first glance, thank you. There are so many conversations that argue if we just eliminate parking requirements or ease zoning regulations housing supply will boom without any consideration of the actual housing or capital “market”.
Great article. Creating beautiful public places and well-zoned neighborhoods alone won't alleviate atomization. They need to compete with social media and social trends that lean towards increasing loneliness and political polarization.
Thank you for this thoughtful essay. I would just note, that, as you say about organizing in general, organizing for zoning reform can itself help create community. At least that's what's happened here in my neighborhood of Boston. It's brought a lot of people together to make housing easier to build, and in the meantime we have created really strong ties with each other. And folks really LOVE meeting in person. We've also started a book group, coffee hours, and happy hours. In the end, the ties that we've created with each other and with the community, may be what's most long lasting.
That's awesome, Barbara. I love hearing that.
The purpose of a system is what it does.
Economics and land use regulations are intertwined. In urbanism topics, "There's no market for _____" is typically because _____ is downstream of a rigged market (i.e. zoning & co).
Definitely coming back to read fully later — but on first glance, thank you. There are so many conversations that argue if we just eliminate parking requirements or ease zoning regulations housing supply will boom without any consideration of the actual housing or capital “market”.
Great article. Creating beautiful public places and well-zoned neighborhoods alone won't alleviate atomization. They need to compete with social media and social trends that lean towards increasing loneliness and political polarization.