Oh, come on, now.  That’s really going too far, isn’t it?  Trying to link zoning with the Obama presidency – even if it is inauguration day?  After all, zoning is a local matter and the Obama/Biden folks are far away in Washington, DC.  Washington doesn’t meddle in zoning very often, and we certainly want to keep it that way, right?  And don’t even try to suggest that zoning has anything to do with the national financial mess.  Zoning didn’t cause it and zoning can’t fix it.  So what’s the link between local zoning and new Obama/Biden administration?

Change, of course.  In A Better Way to Zone I wrote about how we have gotten off track in zoning our American cities and the high price we are paying for our mistakes.  Several of the themes in that book resonate with the kinds of change we need to see throughout our government and economy.  Lets’ name just a few.

Self-reliance.  Both as a candidate and as President, Barack Obama has made it clear that the next few months and years will be hard, but that the American people can rise to the challenge.  Obama has prepared us for the harder choices needed to build the foundations of a stable and healthier economy, and some of those decisions need to be made at the local level.  Washington did not create local zoning that creates exclusionary, expensive, and environmentally destructive patterns of growth.  Sure, federal road subsidies played a part, but many American cities have found ways to encourage more flexible, inclusive, diverse, and interesting neighborhoods anyway.  Our city governments created our local zoning problems, and they can and must be fixed at the local level.

Inclusiveness.  One secret to the Obama/Biden victory was broad inclusiveness, but zoning often heads the other way.  By reinventing zoning to promote sustainability, affordability, and transportation choice for less wealthy Americans, we can contribute to local inclusiveness and economic rebirth.  Zoning that reinforces the strength of existing neighborhoods makes the most of the bricks and concrete and energy and labor that they represent – and will help end the charade that rapid outward sprawl is a viable way to live.  By encouraging creative forms of attainable housing we can strengthen both the economy and the economic diversity of our cities.  Zoning that allows “non-conforming” structures and uses that do not threaten public safety to continue and even expand where they are can help weaker businesses to survive and thrive.

The Long View.  Obama reminds us that our current financial problems and environmental challenges did not emerge overnight and they will not be solved quickly.  Our current national crises are the results of decades of poor decision making by both our elected officials and individual citizens – decisions to take the easy way out while ignoring long-term consequences.  The same is true of zoning.  For too long we have empowered “Not in my Backyard” citizens to derail public investments and sustainable densities that are in the long-run interest of our cities – investments that would make our transportation systems more efficient, reduce pollution, and increase opportunities.  That needs to stop, and we need to focus our local governance on the long view.

In today’s inaugural speech, President Obama stated “The question is not whether our government is too big or too small, it is whether it works.”  For many American neighborhoods our current zoning does not work, and our local elected officials need to take personal responsibility to change that.  Our businesses, employees, families, and children will thank us.