‘Arbitrary Lines’ Author Nolan Gray on Zoning Reform and Hitting Planning’s Reset Button

As the old saying goes, “when all you have is a hammer,
everything looks like a nail.” For decades, zoning has been the
hammer swung by cities at a laundry list of challenges. But this
blunt tool, developed to regulate land use and density, has had
profound collateral damage, planner Nolan Gray argues. Cities and
planners have long been constrained by a zoning “straitjacket,”
he says, preventing them from solving the problems that plague
communities today: housing affordability, sprawl, segregation,
environmental concerns.


How can we reverse that trend? Gray’s new book, Arbitrary Lines,
looks for answers in the form of zoning reform.


“My argument in the book is, yes, zoning has failed, and we
should abolish zoning. But it’s not a pure deregulation argument.
It’s a ‘we’re-regulating-the-wrong-things' argument. I actually
do think planners have a hugely important role to play in the
impacts of new development.” —Nolan Gray, Planner and Author of
Arbitrary Lines


In this special episode of the People Behind the Plans podcast,
Gray sits down with guest host Jason Jordan, APA’s director of
public affairs, to examine the cities and states charting a new
course for zoning reform — and offer advice for planners
navigating the myriad interests impacting land use decisions.


Episode URL:
https://planning.org/podcast/arbitrary-lines-author-nolan-gray-on-zoning-reform-and-hitting-plannings-reset-button/