How Zoning Broke the American City
…And How Florida’s Planners Must Lead on Fixing It

































The land-use policies we inherited have made the American city unaffordable, segregated, unsustainable and sprawling.
● Local governments can and should remove regulatory barriers to new housing production at all levels of the market.
● States and the federal government have an important role to play in putting up guardrails around local planning to ensure sufficient housing is built.
● In the long-term, we need a fundamental rethink both the way we approach land-use planning.
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Make it legal (and by-right) to build missing middle housing and starter homes.
● Allow your sprawl corridors to turn into functional mixed-use communities.
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Ensure that every jurisdiction is building its fair share of housing.
● We need a more regional approach—housing and labor markets don’t stop at jurisdiction boundaries!
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Refocusing planning on addressing impacts and planning for growth.
● If you’re an elected official or a commissioner , champion pro-housing land-use reform. Your constituents are asking for it.
● If you’re a planner or a developer , be a policy entrepreneur: identify reform options and gather materials to back them up.
● If you’re an activist: ask all of the above what they are doing on housing—and build the coalitions needed to give them cover to act.