An inspiring and free online book imagining a low-carbon future for America's towns and cities In a hoped-for future our collective carbon footprint from climate change will be much lower than it is today. But what will our towns and cities that produce that result look like? I’m pleased to announce the launch of a book that gives us a visual glimpse into that low-carbon future. Imagining a Walkable America is a free online book containing a selection of photo-simulations I’v

Development regulation is the new housing crisis culprit. Lately I’ve been reading articles that place the blame for America’s housing crisis at the feet of development regulation. The authors are not making the distinction that the rules are wrong. The claim is that if we just roll back regulation so that there is less of it, our housing crisis would lessen. It is true that zoning regulations have too often been used by local governments and anti-growth residents to freeze n

American zoning is a unique signature about our times. Form-based codes are a big improvement over conventional zoning, but that’s a hard argument to make if advocates have a poor understanding of zoning and its history. Zoning is one of the least understood undercurrents shaping our world and experience. As affordable housing is increasingly out of reach for many Americans and the planet heats up, zoning — a topic that for most people is arcane and sleep-inducing — is bubbli

A remarkable and growing body of literature is telling us that healthy communities need face-to-face interaction among their members, something that electronic media cannot replace. Physical places enable or prevent that interaction. Humans are social, yet this primary fact of life is oddly absent as a core consideration in modern urban development regulations. To ignore the social needs of our species is to lose sight of one of the most positive drivers for shaping sustainab

Zoning should knit communities together, not divide it. “Form-based codes aren’t cheap. If we keep the existing zoning map and add some building-form standards, we’d be almost there.” Some planning directors have had these hopeful thoughts when deciding whether to pursue a form-based code. The question acknowledges the need to make changes to zoning, but naively hopes for simple tweaks. Zoning that effectively shapes and strengthens communities requires more than this. If zon