Land use controls can affect the quality of the environment, the provision of public services, the distribution of income and wealth, the development of natural resources, and the growth of the national economy. The Economics of Zoning Laws is the first book to apply the modern economic theory of property rights to all major aspects of zoning. Zoning laws are neither irrational constrints on otherwise efficient markets nor disinterested attempts to correct market failure. Rather, zoning must be viewed as a collective property right, vested in local governments and administered by politicians who rationally repsond to their constituents and to developers as markets for development rights arise. The Economics of Zoning Laws develops the economic theories of property rights and public choice and applies them to three zoning controversies: the siting of a large industrial plant, the exclusionary zoning of the suburbs, and the constitutional protection of propery owners from excessive regulation. Economic and legal theory, William Fischel contends, suggest that payment of damages under the taking clause of the Constitution may provide the most effective remedy for excessive zoning regulations.

"Zoning has for a century enabled cities to chart their own course. It is a useful and popular institution, enabling homeowners to protect their main investment and provide safe neighborhoods. As home values have soared in recent years, however, this protection has accelerated to the degree that new housing development has become unreasonably difficult and costly. The widespread Not In My Backyard (NIMBY) syndrome is driven by voters’ excessive concern about their home values and creates barriers to growth that reach beyond individual communities. The barriers contribute to suburban sprawl, entrench income and racial segregation, retard regional immigration to the most productive cities, add to national wealth inequality, and slow the growth of the American economy. Some state, federal, and judicial interventions to control local zoning have done more harm than good. More effective approaches would moderate voters’ demand for local-land use regulation—by, for example, curtailing federal tax subsidies to owner-occupied housing"--Publisher's description.

It's a deeply rooted American idea that an individual should be able to join with other persons of similar means and values to establish and maintain a preferred environment. Although not often recognized as such, zoning has major implications for the quality of physical environments, the distribution of income, transportation, housing, local taxation, and racial and class segregation. Zoning thus raises important issues concerning social inequalities and personal property rights. Robert Nelson contends that in effect zoning has created collective property rights, which are now held by local government. His book analyzes the development of zoning, its aims, fictions surrounding it, and its successes and failures. It examines recent environment land-use regulations, their probable outcomes, and future prospects of the regulatory system. Only by bringing together the disparate elements&-the socioeconomic consequences of the changes zoning has wrought on property rights; zoning history, the role of planning; political pressures on zoning administration and law&-can one understand the full complexities of the zoning problem. The author maintains that recent environmental restrictions on land use have led to an undesirable feudal trend. In detail he outlines suggestions for &"major surgery.&" He recommends that private tenure institutions resembling condominium ownership be developed to replace neighborhood zoning. Community zoning should be abolished, and decision-making should be returned to the private sector. Formal public planning organizations and government as a whole should play only a minimal role in determining specific uses of land. For all professionals in the field&-urban economists, political scientists, planners, zoning lawyers, students of urban and environmental affairs&-and even general readers who have a particular interest in the topic, Nelson's critique, with its bold advocacy of reconstruction, will provide a valuable stimulus for discussion.

Why are American cities, suburbs, and towns so distinct? Compared to European cities, those in the United States are characterized by lower densities and greater distances; neat, geometric layouts; an abundance of green space; a greater level of social segregation reflected in space; and—perhaps most noticeably—a greater share of individual, single-family detached housing. In Zoned in the USA, Sonia A. Hirt argues that zoning laws are among the important but understudied reasons for the cross-continental differences.Hirt shows that rather than being imported from Europe, U.S. municipal zoning law was in fact an institution that quickly developed its own, distinctly American profile. A distinct spatial culture of individualism—founded on an ideal of separate, single-family residences apart from the dirt and turmoil of industrial and agricultural production—has driven much of municipal regulation, defined land-use, and, ultimately, shaped American life. Hirt explores municipal zoning from a comparative and international perspective, drawing on archival resources and contemporary land-use laws from England, Germany, France, Australia, Russia, Canada, and Japan to challenge assumptions about American cities and the laws that guide them.

When you're dealing with any piece of real estate in Massachusetts, you need to Understand The applicable land use regulations and cases. Bobrowski's Handbook of Massachsetts Land Use and Planning Law provides all the insightful analysis and practical, expert advice you need, with detailed coverage of such important issues as: Affordable housing Special permit and variance decisions Zoning in Boston Nonconforming uses and structures Administrative appeal procedures Enforcement requests Building permits Vested rights Agricultural use exemptions Current tests for exactions SLAPP suit procedures Impact fees Civil rights challenges. Helpful tables facilitate convenient case law review, while forms and extensive cross-references add To The book's usefulness.