An Invitation to Collaborate on a National Zoning Atlas

Any opinions expressed in this paper are those of the author(s) and not those of the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University or of any of the persons or organizations providing support to the Joint Center for Housing Studies. [...] It offers insights into the state of zoning data, then discusses the mechanics of creating a national zoning atlas based on the methods used to create the Connecticut Zoning Atlas. [...] As a starting point, I’ve proposed a methodology and posted it online.5 It covers where to find zoning codes and how to identify zoning districts, then outlines how atlas makers should classify zoning 2 When assembling the Connecticut Zoning Atlas, we found several special acts of the Connecticut legislature enabling a few specific private associations to adopt zoning codes. [...] 10 Since the symposium, the California and Massachusetts teams have joined the National Zoning Atlas research collaborative, and their work forms the basis for the California Zoning Atlas and the Massachusetts Zoning Atlas, respectively. [...] We need a mechanism for thinking through long-term maintenance of atlas as codes change, and we also need to recognize, as Waddell and Besharati do in their symposium paper, that the law on the 14 See National Zoning Atlas, “Atlas Projects.” Since the symposium, the Montana Zoning Atlas and the New Hampshire Zoning Atlas were launched and have been published.