Zoning resources
Resources for communities and zoning nerds.
Where to find money for zoning reform, where to learn about equitable zoning, who to join, and a library of the documents that started it all.
Zoning reform funding
Federal, state, and philanthropic sources that have funded code rewrites.
- HUD Pathways to Removing Obstacles to Housing (PRO Housing)Competitive grants for communities removing regulatory barriers to housing
- YIMBY grantsCongress-funded grants for zoning reform, via HUD. More from Planetizen
- HUD grantsThe full HUD grants portal
- State-by-state guide to zoning reformLincoln Institute of Land Policy
- New York State zoning fundingState support for transit-oriented zoning reform
- Open Philanthropy land use reform grantsPhilanthropic support for zoning and land use reform
Equitable zoning
Reading and tools on zoning, equity, and housing. See also our equitable zoning page and Zoning Equity Scorecard.
- Alliance for Housing JusticeEquitable zoning
- PolicyLinkInclusionary zoning
- Open Communities AllianceZoning for equity
- APA Zoning Practice: Racial EquityJanuary 2022 issue (PDF)
- Next CityCities, racial equity, zoning, and planning
- U.S. EPAEquitable development and environmental justice
- Prosperity NowInclusionary zoning report
- Local Solutions Support CenterEquitable housing
- Desegregate ConnecticutHB 6107 and state zoning reform
- National Association of CountiesFive actions counties must take on zoning reform
- New York City "City of Yes"Citywide zoning initiatives
- Brookings"End single-family zoning" is bad political messaging
A short history of zoning in America
Zoning began in the late nineteenth century, when rapidly growing cities passed laws to keep certain businesses out of residential areas. In 1916, New York City adopted the first comprehensive zoning ordinance in the country, after its Heights of Buildings Commission spent years documenting actual conditions of light, air, and congestion before drafting a regulation.
Then the template got copied. The federal Standard State Zoning Enabling Act (1924) made it easy for states to authorize zoning, and in 1926 the Supreme Court upheld zoning as constitutional in Euclid v. Ambler, a case about a suburb of Cleveland. Thousands of communities adopted Manhattan's solution without doing Manhattan's homework, and zoning was also used to entrench racial segregation, a practice that persisted in many cities for decades.
By the 1970s zoning was being used to promote economic development and to attract business. Today it is asked to do everything from protecting the environment to producing housing. Most codes, though, are still built on the frame they inherited a century ago. That is why every ZoneCo engagement starts with a diagnostic.
Sean Suder gave the Bettman Lecture on 100 Years of Euclid v. Ambler at the 2026 APA National Planning Conference, and presents "All Zoning is New York City Zoning" at the National Conference on Planning History in October 2026. Speaking →
Not sure where to start?
Tell us what's not working in your code. We'll tell you what it would take to fix it, and what it would cost.