Zoning in the United States

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Zoning is a system of laws that divides a jurisdiction's land into districts, or zones, and limits how land in each district can be used. In the United States, zoning includes various land use laws enforced through the police power rights of state governments (often delegated to their local governments) to exercise authority over privately owned real property. Zoning laws in major cities originated with the New York City 1916 Zoning Resolution. Before zoning, some cities had local ordinances like those in Los Angeles in 1904 limiting laundries (commonly referred to as "wash houses") from operating in a residential area. These early city ordinances were in some cases motivated by racism and classism. After the Supreme Court declared racial ordinances unconstitutional in 1917, many localities discovered zoning and began setting down citywide restrictions. In suburban localities, zoning often mandates single-family housing. Though not always explicitly discriminatory, zoning ordinances were...

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