M. Nolan Gray
American urban planner and writer, research director at California YIMBY and former New York City city planner, best known as the author of "Arbitrary Lines: How Zoning Broke the American City and How to Fix It."
Books
This list of books are ONLY the books that have been ranked on the lists that are aggregated on this site. This is not a comprehensive list of all books by this author.
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1. Arbitrary Lines
How Zoning Broke the American City and How to Fix It
Arguing that conventional zoning has damaged American cities, this book traces how rules like single-family districts and parking minimums raise housing costs, entrench segregation, fuel sprawl, and lock in car dependence. It recounts the legal and political history behind these regulations, highlights real-world case studies, and shows how less prescriptive approaches can better manage genuine externalities. The proposed path forward includes upzoning, legalizing mixed-use and small apartments, eliminating parking mandates, and ultimately replacing Euclidean zoning with simpler, outcome-focused standards to create more affordable, equitable, and walkable communities.
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