Lately myself and colleagues have been talking. Talking about systems, about what in Cleveland is by design, what is a feature not a bug. Zoning is one of those things. In Cleveland it is a tool used to make livable neighborhoods illegal:

This video should make you sad. But it is also an example of systemic racism. Today it is obscured, hidden. “Today we have many of the same practices, without the explicit language. Those practices are largely inscribed in geography.” – John A. Powell.

This is a map of Cleveland. This is now: single, 2family, and multi-family zoning. This zoning excludes “mixed-use” development (or elsewhere: the way you build things). This constitutes about 44 square miles of land. Cleveland is about 82.5 square miles. So ~53.5% of our city.

2Family zoning is the most ubiquitous at over 25% of the city’s area. While you can build rental units in this district, which are more affordable than buying a home, any mixed use is illegal. These polices work with history to further exclude poor households and people of color.

Why? Well, the median household income for white households in Cleveland is about $42k. For Black households it is about $21k. These numbers determine and influence a lot, but in terms of housing: the more money you have, the more options you have.

So when the zoning is more restrictive, more limiting of housing/lifestyle options, it disproportionally burdens/excludes people of lower income, because your income controls your options. This burden falls more heavily on Black households due to income disparities.

This creates/is part of a cycle that has shaped our city. It is a feedback loop. And it isn't an accident: it is a feature, not a bug. But it doesn’t have to continue. Zoning laws are just words, written down in a book, published in the City Record.

Want to do something about it? Call/email your councilperson. Call your neighborhood planner. Reach out to me if you need help determining who that is. Tell them you want mixed use zoning, mixed use neighborhoods, and more inclusionary zoning.

The Planning Commission is pioneering solutions to these problems right now: the City has a Form-Based Code Pilot; we have written several hybrid codes like the Urban Form Overlay. We can be proud of these efforts: https://thelandcode.com/ 

Remember: this was done intentionally. It is a feature. The zoning code, this system of laws, this landscape of inequality was created intentionally. It will take intention to change it. Zoning as it is currently written is one of many root causes of systemic inequality.

Planners don’t always get it right, but if you ask for this, if you convince your councilpeople to ask us for inclusion, we know how to write it. We can get it done. We all need to work together if we want to create more choices for those who have fewer, if any, choices.