Summary of M. Nolan Gray's Arbitrary Lines

Everest Media

Description

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.
Sample Book Insights:
#1 Zoning is the American Dream in action: it allows cities to grow up and out, and it was developed in response to the rise of noxious urban industries and mounting infrastructure pressures.
#2 Zoning is the practice of regulating the use of land to control urban growth. It has been used to prop up property values, slow the growth of cities, and segregate the United States based on race and class.
#3 The way we segregate uses and restrict densities in American cities is completely different from how it was in historical cities. In historical cities, there was very little segregation by use, and little distinction between home and work.
#4 Between 1890 and 1920, major technological innovations allowed developers to build exponentially more floor area on the same plot of land, which allowed densities to follow demand. This boom in apartment construction was good for tenants, but it created uncertainty for landlords.

Sujets

• Architecture
• urban planning

Informations

• Publié par: Everest Media LLC
• Date de parution: 15 août 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9798822599147
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Insights on M. Nolan Gray's Arbitrary Lines
Contents Insights from Chapter 1 Insights from Chapter 2 Insights from Chapter 3
Insights from Chapter 1

#1

Zoning is the American Dream in action: it allows cities to grow up and out, and it was developed in response to the rise of noxious urban industries and mounting infrastructure pressures.

#2

Zoning is the practice of regulating the use of land to control urban growth. It has been used to prop up property values, slow the growth of cities, and segregate the United States based on race and class.

#3

The way we segregate uses and restrict densities in American cities is completely different from how it was in historical cities. In historical cities, there was very little segregation by use, and little distinction between home and work.

#4

Between 1890 and 1920, major technological innovations allowed developers to build exponentially more floor area on the same plot of land, which allowed densities to follow demand. This boom in apartment construction was good for tenants, but it created uncertainty for landlords.

#5

The invention of the electric streetcar in the mid-1880s removed barriers to urban horizontal expansion. Cars allowed middle-class households to live outside walking distance of work or transit, which led to the rapid development of strictly low-density residential subdivisions at the edges of American cities.

#6

The first zoning ordinances in American cities were developed in 1916, and they were largely supported by commercial landlords and office landlords, respectively. They combined these desires for comprehensive use and density controls, resulting in a zoning ordinance that broke New York City out into use, height, and area districts.

#7

In 1922, seven other cities adopted zoning to much less fanfare. Berkeley was a young suburb facing growth pressures for the first time, and its rules would help to define American suburban development.

#8

While the intention of zoning may seem obvious, that of excluding apartments from wealthy neighborhoods, and industry from residential neighborhoods, is not. Both institutions were adopted to primarily serve the needs of special interests.

#9

Zoning was a local reform that stemmed from the desire to preserve the national character of neighborhoods, and to stimulate the building industry. It was promoted by the federal government, and adopted by more than 1,000 municipalities by 1936.

#10

By the mid-1920s, a constitutional challenge was brought against the Euclid zoning ordinance in Ohio, and the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of zoning. With the Supreme Court’s stamp of approval, zoning rapidly spread.

#11

Zoning is not a good institution. It was created to increase the value of properties, which led to the segregation of cities by race and class.

#12

I learned that most people don’t know anything about zoning. I received a call from a lady who lived along Staten Island’s eastern shore. She was trying to sell her house, but the broker said it wasn’t allowed in the neighborhood of Dongan Hills. I explained that she actually lived in Dongan Hills.