I’ve always been amused by many city dwellers–of which I am one–and how they interact with zoning. For Philadelphians, zoning is a guilty-pleasure pastime. We have meetings about zoning. And meetings about how we should conduct meetings about zoning. We even have neighborhood civic association meetings overseeing parts of the zoning process. These meetings will have heated discussions about all the minutiae and hair-splitting that has come to define modern life in Philadelphia and other cities. Should someone be able to construct a building that’s 43’ tall instead of 38’ tall? What are the impacts of allowing someone to build with 10% open space instead of 20%? Is a building still justified when it will cast shadows on the people south of the building? And don’t forget about parking.

Then at any other time, ask Philadelphians what they like about living in the city…

“I love how dynamic it is!”
‍