A review by treyhunner
Arbitrary Lines: How Zoning Broke the American City and How to Fix It by Nolan Gray

5.0

This book was both more engaging and more convincing than I expected. I knew the history of zoning was intertwined with racial and class segregation and that zoning arguably causes many problems today, including exacerbating climate change and reducing housing availability and affordability. But I hadn't considered that zoning doesn't actually do much good, seriously when compared to land use regulations.

I'm now somewhat more convinced that abolishing zoning makes more sense than reforming it. Zoning seems to be either sub-optimal or actively counter-productive for addressing many of the problems it purports to solve.

If you're interested in housing or city planning and somewhat new to the topic (as I am), I would definitely recommend reading this book.