Digital Mind 🧠

🪵 The Threshold

Existing zoning regulated streets and lot shape, not environmental harms

Properties2
tagsja-picks, xref, causal_relationships, trade, singleton, category/causal-relationships
aliases@rome_bulldozer_2001, loc. 1053

2 min read

Existing zoning regulated streets and lot shape, not environmental harms

Evidence

In 1950, homebuilders rarely had to take environmental costs into account. Though many cities and counties had subdivision codes and zoning ordinances, the two forms of regulation dealt mainly with economic and social issues – the technical standards for streets and utilities, the shape of lots, or the location of residential, commercial, and industrial land. To cut costs, therefore, homebuilders were free to cause a variety of environmental problems. To take advantage of the cheap, unsewered land at the fringes of cities, they could install septic tanks on tiny lots, in unsuitable soils, or near streams or wells. To reduce land acquisition costs, builders could level hills, fill wetlands, and build in floodplains. To maximize the number of lots in a tract, they could design subdivisions with no open space. To speed the work of site preparation, builders could clear the ground of vegetation. To save on material and labor, they could design and build houses without much protection against heat and cold. — Adam Rome, The Bulldozer in the Countryside, 1053

Categorization

  • XREF: Shows why local subdivision codes failed as environmental law, a direct instance of the ‘law vs. justice/fairness’ tension in the LGST course. — connects to: Preindustrial city streets mixed commerce, news, and waste in ways modern zoning separates — Lyn H. Lofland, World of Strangers_ Order and Action in…, 201; Preindustrial city streets served as venues for activities modern cities segregate into specialized spaces; Preindustrial urban life mixed private activities into public streets — Lyn H. Lofland, World of Strangers_ Order and Action in…, 175 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

✉️

Backlinks