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Zoning has long been used to exclude & to segregate communities, & Atlanta is no exception. Zoning reform is needed to allow the city to rectify the exclusionary practices of its past (& present) & allow for different housing types & local economies to thrive throughout the city.
The City of Atlanta was a dense, urban place with a comprehensive streetcar system. In 1940, Atlanta was 35.2 square miles & had a population of 302,288. Atlanta's 1940 population density was approximately 8,588 people per square mile, nearly 2.5 times as dense as it was in 2018
Throughout the 20th Century, Atlanta intentionally designed itself as a low density city, drastically reducing the housing options & limiting the use of urban land in favor of suburban development patterns. The result: the City of Atlanta is now the 316th densest city in the US.
Much of Atlanta today is locked into single-family zoning that limits how the city grows. Nearly 2/3 of the city is still zoned exclusively for single-family zoning. Atlanta's future depends on policies of inclusion & exclusive single-family zoning is anything but inclusive.
