It's a fact. The zoning problem you're struggling with today has probably already been solved by somebody else. But how can you find out what's working without spending a lot of your valuable time?

Zoning Practice isn't just an interesting read. It's a toolbox chock full of information geared to inform and inspire, and to implement by planners for the purpose of smarter land-use practice.

Current Issues

June 2009

Parking Management Best Practices: Making Efficient Use of Parking Resources

Until recently, most planners assumed that parking should be abundant and free. This article describes how to adjust parking planning practices to take advantage of management solutions to significantly reduce the parking supply required in a particular situation and to provide other economic, social, and environmental benefits.

Author Todd Litman is founder and executive director of the Victoria Transport Policy Institute, an independent research organization dedicated to developing innovative solutions to transport problems.

May 2009

Accommodating Density: Lessons from Chicago

Planners struggle with issues of residential density and residential building scale, and most of the planning literature discussing issues of density is theoretical. This article uses Chicago as a laboratory to explore where increased density will be most welcome and where zoning battles will be least significant.

Author Thomas P. Smith is a senior associate at Duncan Associates, an urban planning firm with offices in Chicago and Austin, Texas, and his co-author Mary Fishman is a licensed architect with a master's in urban planning who has worked for 25 years in the fields of architecture and urban design.