A Review of the Land Use Regulations in the Nation's 50 largest Metropolitan Areas

[monsoon]

"Local land use regulations help define the character of cities, towns, counties, and entire regions. Zoning, comprehensive plans, infrastructure control, urban containment, building moratoriums, and permit caps can drive development outward, promote density, or something in between."

The Brookings Institute has completed a review of the local land use regulations in the 50 largest metro areas in the United States. You can access the article and full report here. You can also access the individual metro area reports here.

I found some of the individual metro information to be a bit general and and a bit out of date, but it's a nice comparison of the land use regulations of the different areas of the country. If you are involved in planning of your ommunity, then this might be a report worth looking at.

[itk]

I thought this was very interesting research and a well done report (big surprise), thanks for the link. The problems associated with land use planning (or lack thereof) facinates me, particularly when it comes to policy (which is what Brookings obviously focuses on) and its relation to transportation planning.

I understand metro areas can vary across the US, so it makes sense for states to have a key role in land use regulation, but it still seems to me there is still a role at the federal level...

[nowensone]

Thought you guys might get a kick out of this physical footprint of world's largest retailers, this thread seemed the appropriate place for it. The graphic really highlights the standard of low density from the #1 on this list (I'll bet everyone guesses it before looking).