Mixed-Use Zoning Quiz

Mixed-Use Zoning: An Overview

• Mixed-use development combines multiple uses, such as residential, commercial, cultural, institutional, or entertainment, into one space, where those functions are physically and functionally integrated.
• Traditional human settlements have developed in mixed-use patterns, but governmental zoning regulations were introduced to separate different functions, such as manufacturing, from residential areas.
• In most of Europe, government policy has encouraged the continuation of the city center's role as a main location for business, retail, restaurant, and entertainment activity, unlike in the US where zoning actively discouraged such mixed use for many decades.
• Mixed-use developments are home to significant employment and housing opportunities and increase housing variety, density, and affordability. They also promote community and socialization through their bringing together of employees, visitors, and residents and create a distinctive character of the place.
• Mixed-use neighborhoods and buildings have a strong ability to adapt to changing social and economic environments and foster sustainable transportation practices.
• Mega-mixed-use projects often fall short on meeting equity and affordability goals and are extremely expensive, making them risky investments.
• Mixed-use projects may be seen as disjointed from the surrounding environment, and there is often a clash between designs that preserve local character and those that represent economic growth and modernity.
• Some of the more frequent mixed-use scenarios in the United States are transit-oriented developments, urban infill, suburban retrofit, and new town centers.
• Toronto, Portland, and Hudson Yards in NYC are examples of cities where mixed-use zoning has been implemented successfully.
• The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) collaborates with local governments by providing researchers developing new data that estimates how a city can be impacted by mixed-use development.
• Preconditions for the success of mixed-use developments are employment, population, and consumer spending, and other factors determining the success of the mixed-use development are the proximity of production time and the costs from the surrounding market.
• Hudson Yards is the largest private real estate development in the history of the United States, set to accommodate 125,000 workers, visitors, and residents daily, and financed by future property taxes and the EB-5 Visa Program.