Course Details

Throughout the country, a housing supply shortage has resulted in record rent levels and house prices – whether the community is urban, rural, Tribal, suburban or ex-urban. One reason for limited housing supply is local zoning, which often precludes any housing form besides the single-family home. Recently, advocates around the country have recognized the role that single-family zoning plays in limiting housing supply, causing housing segregation, decreasing affordability, inflexible housing types that don’t match the needs of today’s households, and environmental damage. A few states and localities have begun to change single-family zones to allow for different types of housing, including accessory dwelling units, manufactured housing, small multifamily buildings, duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes. Others are amending their codes to support new environmentally friendly technologies in home building, such as manufactured housing, to improve resilience, educe sprawl, or create more inclusive, diverse communities.

This course will examine how zoning affects housing and how certain zoning changes can expand options for today’s families. We will review what research tells us about the impact of zoning on housing costs, affordability, gentrification, displacement, and overall housing supply. Zoning to allow manufactured housing will be a common example used throughout the course, along with other new thinking from around the country. We will learn different models of zoning change that allow for increased density, and examine the lessons learned from advocates who both succeeded and failed to make zoning changes. We will discuss the role zoning has played in supporting racist policies as well as the role that zoning can play in providing the solution of flexible and inclusive housing. We will get past the NIMBY-YIMBY fights and delve into the underlying issues both in favor of and against zoning for greater density. Participants will gain knowledge of zoning, land use, how to initiate or support changes at the community, local or state level, and what to expect once zoning does change. You’ll head home with a customized strategy for zoning change for your community.

Course Length: 2 Days

Tuition: $770.0

Course counts toward a professional certificate (PCP): Yes