Weekly Links: Athens isn’t down with being forced to quickly respond to problems unleashed by companies. Plus, Atlanta to Charlotte passenger rail could be on the way…there’s only one problem. And, Atlanta may finally allow garages to be rented out in more parts of the city.
California’s Japanese-Style Takeover of Local Zoning Control
This week, California attempts to usurp zoning control from cities to increase affordable housing, rivers used to catch on fire in pre-EPA America, Melbourne’s trees get email addresses, and what does the term ‘Orwellian’ actually mean?
Japanese Zoning: The Solution to NIMBYism?
Removing zoning to a larger regional authority would undoubtedly be met with fierce political opposition, though it’s likely just what the doctor ordered for many metro areas to grow in more organized and reasonable manners. Making counties and cities compete among each other when we all freely travel between jurisdictions on a daily basis makes little sense. The bureaucratic inconsistencies and infrastructural headaches that ensue degrade our comprehensive regional planning efforts while cultivating a fractured political atmosphere and an overall distrust of one another.