Philadelphia is a great place to visit, but not because it’s a great place to park. City officials don’t seem to see it that way, though, given the recent restrictions placed on its outdoor dining program.
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“Community character" is often invoked to support exclusion and discrimination, but there are also communities whose unique "character" matters—a lot. How (if at all) should local government support such places?
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Many older homeowners face a tough choice: Age in a home that’s too large or inaccessible for them, or give up their property and move somewhere else. Here’s how one resident of Delta, BC, found a third option.
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A small, local, mixed-use business versus a new Amazon warehouse. Let’s put these two business proposals before the Shark Tank (Winnipeg edition).
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Although they stand in very different parts of the country, these college towns are spearheading the push to eliminate harmful, longstanding land-use policies.
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The problems with "community input" are many and obvious. One misguided response is to favor more top-down policy making, simply overriding the objections of local "NIMBYs." But there is a third way.
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Real-world examples of the administrative friction that holds back small-scale developers.
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What kind of zoning reform do we need in order to build strong towns?
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Incremental development today is far from the path of least resistance. To do it, you'll need the ability to navigate dozens of regulatory barriers.
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What can we do at the most immediate, local level when water reservoirs run low?
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Local decision-making must become more accessible to everyday people. Here's how to make that happen in your place.
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One of the realities about cities is that they change—but in America, most cities are trapped in a regulatory environment that makes change extremely costly.
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The “Takings Clause” prohibits the government from taking private property without just compensation. But what if it’s interpreted in unexpected ways?
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In the history of urban planning and zoning, pretext has often been used to achieve unstated goals, with (at best) questionable public purposes.
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What the debate over a historic building—Wichita’s Century II—can teach us about local democracy and government.
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Raising poultry allows people to bring their food systems closer to home and build resilience. The problem? Raising chickens is illegal—or regulated into prohibitive expense—in many communities.
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If you’re nostalgic for the past, give it up. We’re not going back. We must start with what has been given us and figure out what to do with it.
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Copying and pasting lighting codes from other cities seems like a good idea. Why reinvent the wheel? But doing so thoughtlessly can obscure what is unique and valuable about your own community.
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Many cities impose a minimum lot size on residential neighborhoods—which can lead to more expensive housing and less tax revenue to pay for city services. But do these rules actually lead to bigger lots—or do they just reflect what the market would produce anyway? A new study sheds some light on that question.
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We should require our local governments to develop some discipline and reliability in their permitting approach. These are practices that demonstrate respect for both our civic institutions and the people they are supposed to serve.
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