POLITICS OF URBAN LAND USE City Beautiful and

POLITICS OF URBAN LAND USE City Beautiful and Urban Zoning Pl. Sc. 422

City Beautiful and Center City Tension between Pursuit of Private Profit and the “Vision” of the City on a Hill ◦ Philadelphia: the Private City ◦ New England Puritanism’s stress on civic virtue leads to City Beautiful Movement

Squalor vs Beauty

“White City” of the Chicago Exposition Frederick Law Olmsted, Daniel Burnham & Richard Morris Hunt City Beautiful – ◦ Architectonic vision of what city could be ◦ Reaction against environmental degradation of 19 th century industrial city

Urban Development in Cleveland: Private Profit and a Residual of the Vision New England Puritan Culture on the Shore of Lake Erie – Western Reserve of Connecticut Center of mid-west capitalism in 19 th century ◦ Mark Hanna – Republican Party kingmaker ◦ John D. Rockefeller – first billionaire

Progressive Reforms in Cleveland Urban Politics: Thomas L. Johnson Horatio Alger story: poverty to street railway empire Elected mayor of Cleveland in 1901 Urban government provided few public services at that time Progressives, led by Johnson, set out to “redeem” municipal government Municipal public services expanded Associated with low fare for street cars

“White City” of the Chicago Exposition Influences Cleveland’s Development Cleveland Architectural Club sponsored competition formal grouping of Cleveland’s Public Buildings (1895) Enabling legislation passed by Ohio state legislature facilitates the Cleveland Group Plan

Cleveland Group Plan: Project & Implementation

Mayor Johnson Implements “Group Plan” Influence of Baron Haussman strong Private land subjected to public good Fitted into the progressive ideology Public buildings arranged around a Mall –laid out on 44 acre site Nearly a century of sporadic efforts – but largely realized

Zoning: Regulating Private Land for the Public Good Purposes of Zoning I ◦ Safety ◦ Promote Health ◦ Provide light/air

A typical zoning map; this one identifies the zones, or development districts, in the city of Ontario, California

Zoning: Regulating Private Land for the Public Good Purposes of Zoning II ◦ Prevent overcrowding ◦ Avoid population concentration ◦ Assure adequate provision of infrastructural necessities

Traditional Techniques of Zoning I Characteristics ◦ Divides area into zones within which uses are permitted as set out by zoning ordinance ◦ Ordinance sets out restrictions and conditions that apply to each zone ◦ Zoning ordinance provides for a Board of Adjustment

Traditional Techniques of Zoning II The single family home ◦ What is a family? Large lot zoning Apartments and Mobile homes

Exclusionary Zoning and Affordable Housing All zoning is by definition exclusionary

Exclusionary Zoning and Affordable Housing Pervasiveness of Exclusionary Zoning raised important issues of social policy Fair Share Housing: led to extensive intervention by the judicial system

The Euclid Ohio Case: 1926 ( legal challenge to zoning & land use planning ) Village of Euclid, Ohio v. Ambler Realty Co. Supreme Court of the United States ◦ ◦ Argued January 27, 1926 Reargued October 12, 1926 Decided November 22, 1926 Full case name: Village of Euclid, Ohio, et al. v. Ambler Realty Company. Citations: 272 U. S. 365; 47 S. Ct. 114; 71 L. Ed. 303; 1926 U. S. LEXIS 8; 4 Ohio L. Abs. 816; 54 A. L. R. 1016 prior history: Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio

Constitutionality of zoning – upheld, just barely Consequences: Significant extension of police power in that it enabled municipalities to prohibit uses that were not nuisances in strict sense Upheld that the social implications of apartment living could be a “use” category for purposes of land use planning

Expanding on the Euclid Decision Some municipalities began to introduce requirements for “moderate housing” 1962 New Jersey – municipalities could exclude mobile homes Pennsylvania 1965 – Four acre minimum lot found unconstitutional

Courts and “Fair Share” Housing Mount Laurel Cases NAACP Suit of 1975 Courts require state of New Jersey to adopt land use regulations that complied with the 1983 decision regarding inclusion of low income residents

From Courts to Politics: New Jersey Fair Housing Act (1985) Designed to retrieve land use policy from judges and the courts System of voluntary compliance Increase power for opponents Tilt toward “Inclusionary Zoning”