How Zoning Came to Be

Partner Engineering and Science's Ira Grossman takes a look at the history of zoning, and how it's helped shape America's city skylines.

By S. Ira Grossman | Updated on November 08, 2013

“The story of American zoning is really the story of how Americans learned to legislate their NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) impulses.” – The Atlantic Cities

Today, zoning is a key element of real estate due diligence. Surveys such as boundary surveys, ALTA surveys and Topographic surveys are used for almost all real estate deals to define property lines, and map all existing improvements and utilities on the property. In fact, my colleague Christopher Daniels recently wrote an interesting blog on this topic, you can read it here. A zoning report is a necessary component to secure financing, and can advise buyers and lenders whether a site complies with local area requirements and if current or planned uses and developments violate zoning codes.

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