Justice
The Birth of Zoning Codes, a History
Or, how Americans learned to legislate our NIMBY impulses.
The story of American zoning is really the story of how Americans learned to legislate their NIMBY impulses.
Before zoning, cities mostly regulated what could be built through nuisance laws. If someone didn't like how their neighbor was using their property, they could haul them to trial and let a judge decide what to do about it.