NR 377: Land Use Policy and Economics

Instructor: Austin Troy

atroy@uvm.edu

Instructor’s Office: 313 Aiken

656-8336

Website: www.uvm.edu/~atroy/landuse

Requirements (subject to change)

• Participation in class discussions and online discussion threads
• Posting to land use blog
• “My town” exercise (make posting to Blackboard and do research which will serve as the basis for your final paper)
• Midterm essay question (details later)
• Lead one class discussion and post discussion topics online before class
• Attend and write a brief report on local commission meeting of your choice (click here to link to the Burlington Planning and Zoning page, which includes meeting times and agendas for several commissions)
• FINAL PAPER (details online now)

Discussion leader list (see under syllabus below)

Readings:

Book: Fischel, W. 1985. The Economics of Zoning Laws. Johns Hopkins University Press: Baltimore.

All other readings are available as PDFs on Blackboard or free on the web

Sources for current land use articles:

Require on campus computer or VPN:

Westlaw and Lexis-Nexis (excellent databases of newspaper and magazine articles) are available from the UVM library website at http://library.uvm.edu/research/index.php?tab=iref&mode=subjects&subject=general

Vermont articles index: http://bfprhdindex.uvm.edu/

America History and Life (for a historical perspective): http://serials.abc-clio.com/active/start?_appname=serials

My own personal search engine on land use and energy (limits search to a number of relevant newspapers, NGO websites, government agency websites, etc.)

Available anywhere:

Planetizen: A great source for planning articles and resources: www.planetizen.com

Google News: www.google.com/news

Software downloads

Google Earth

Microsoft Bing Maps (formerly Virtual Earth; includes side-angle aerial views)

Preliminary Seminar Schedule and Reading List

9/2:	Introduction + Why do cities exist? · Powerpoint lecture
9/9	Urban Economics Fundamentals O’Sullivan, chapter 7: Introduction to Land rents O’Sullivan, chapter 8: land use in the monocentric city Mills: A Thematic History of Urban Economics, pp. 7-18 Powerpoint lecture
9/16	Visit to South Village new urbanist development in South Burlington, with developer David Scheur. Berke et al. Greening development to protect watersheds Lund. Testing the claims of new urbanism
9/23:	Urban decentralization (leader: Matt) Downs, Some Realities about Sprawl and Urban Decline Mieszkowski and Mills, The Causes of Metropolitan Suburbanization Ewing: Is Los Angeles style sprawl desirable? Optional:Excerpt from “Sprawl: A Compact History” by Robert Bruegmann; www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/076903.html Powerpoint lecture Google Earth/Virtual Earth exercise: “your definition of sprawl” (email your Google Earth placemarks before)
9/30:	Introduction to local regulation and property rights (leader: Michael) Fischel: The Economics of Zoning Laws, Chapters 2-3 Porter: Growth Management Approaches and Techniques pp. 15-42 Powerpoint lecture
10/7:	Skim over the Burlington Municipal Plan and the zoning ordinance and map
10/14:	The economics of zoning and land use controls (leader: Elizabeth) Fischel: ‘The Economics of Zoning Laws’ chapter 10-12 VanLandingham et al. Dealing with Growth: Alternatives to Large Lot Zoning on the Urban Fringe. http://cepm.louisville.edu/Pubs_WPapers/practiceguides/PG5.pdf Powerpoint lecture
10/21:	Land use controls, local spending and exclusion (leader: Marissa) O’Sullivan, chapter 19: Local Government Spending Fischel: The Economics of Zoning Laws, Ch 15 Fischel: why are there Nimbys Very brief BBC piece on NIMBYism Optional: Ihlanfeldt: Exclusionary land use regulations within suburban communities PowerPoint Lecture
10/28:	Urban differentiation (leader: Diana) Fischel The Economics of Zoning Laws chapter 14 O’Sullivan, chapter 13 Powerpoint lecture Midterm handed out in class
11/4:	Growth management as a response to sprawl (leader: Dale) note change in schedule Chinitz: Growth Management: Good for the Town, Bad for the Nation (short piece) Downs and Godschalk: Growth Management, Satan or Savior (short piece) Heim: Leapfrogging, Urban Sprawl, and Growth Management: Phoenix, 1950-2000. Byun and Esparza: A revisionist model of suburbanization and sprawl: the role of political fragmentation, growth control, and spillovers Presentation in class by David White, Director of Planning and Zoning for Burlington
11/11:	Exurbs (leader: Peter) note change in schedule Walker and Fortman: Whose landscape? A Political Ecology of the Exurban Sierra Davis: The new ‘burbs: The Exurbs and their Implication for Planning Policy Atlantic Monthly article on housing bubble and exurbs High Country News article on exurbs Short LA Times Orange County Canyon article
11/18:	State growth management case studies: Vermont and Oregon Guest lecture and discussion with Geoff Hand, land use lawyer with Shems, Dunkiel, Raubvogel and Saunders Murphy: Vermont’s Act 250 and the Problem of Sprawl Shoemake: the Smalling of America, pp. 895-910 Portland Metro Region’s 50 year plan for managing growth: read report at http://library.oregonmetro.gov/files/natureof2040.pdf Myths and facts about the Oregon UGB by 1000 Friends of Oregon at http://www.onethousandfriendsoforegon.org/resources/myths.html. This is just a short list Short recent article on Oregon’s Measure 37: From Farmland to Subdivision Burlington FreePress Article on Growth Centers Bill Optional (for background on which states are doing growth management) Anthony: do state growth management regulations reduce sprawl
11/25	Thanksgiving Break
12/2	Farmland and open space preservation (leader: Monika) Daniel: Integrated Working Landscape Protection: The Case of Lancaster County , PA Nelson: Preserving Prime Farmland in the Face of Urbanization Fulton. The Reluctant Metropolis, chapter 7 (The Education of Maria Van der Kolk) Denver Post Article: Too Many Homes on the Range Arizona Sun Article: Where Rural Life, City Growth Clash AlterNet Article related to Fulton readings: Being Like Brokovitch Optional Reading: Hellerstein et al., Farmland Protection: The Role of Public Preferences for Rural Amenities, pp. 1-18
12/9:	Smart Growth: Urban Density and Infill Readings: Urban Land Institute: Higher Density Development: Myths and Facts (this can be skimmed) Downs: Smart Growth: why we discuss it more than we do it O’Toole: The Folly of Smart Growth Visualizing Density presentation at the Lincoln Institute (try the density game!): http://www.lincolninst.edu/subcenters/VD/index.aspx, (requires free login) Also check out images at these cool websites: http://www.urban-advantage.com/images.html, http://www.sflcv.org/density/ Tentative: guest exercise with Chuck Leif and Miro Weinberger of the Hartland group.
Bibliography Anthony, J. (2004). "Do state growth management regulations reduce sprawl?" URBAN AFFAIRS REVIEW 39(3): 376-397. Berke, P. R., J. MacDonald, et al. (2003). "Greening development to protect watersheds - Does new urbanism make a difference?" Journal of the American Planning Association 69(4): 397-413. Byun and Esparza (2005) A Revisionist Model of Suburbanization and Sprawl: The Role of Political Fragmentation, Growth Control and Spillovers. Journal of Planning Education and Research. 24. CHINITZ, B. (1990). "GROWTH MANAGEMENT - GOOD FOR THE TOWN, BAD FOR THE NATION." JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN PLANNING ASSOCIATION 56(1): 3-8. Daniels, T. L. (2000). “ Integrated Working Landscape Protection: The Case of Lancaster County , PA” Society and Natural Resources. 13:261-271. DOWNS, A. (1992). "GROWTH MANAGEMENT - SATAN OR SAVIOR - REGULATORY BARRIERS TO AFFORDABLE HOUSING." JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN PLANNING ASSOCIATION 58(4): 419-422. Downs, A. (1999). "Some realities about sprawl and urban decline." HOUSING POLICY DEBATE 10(4): 955-974. Downs, A. (2005). "Smart Growth: Why We Discuss It More than We Do It." Journal of the American Planning Association 71(4): 11. Ewing, R. (1997). "Is Los Angeles-style sprawl desirable?" JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN PLANNING ASSOCIATION 63(1): 107-126. Fischel, W. (2004). "An economic history of zoning and a cure for its exclusionary effects." URBAN STUDIES 41(2): 317-340. Fischel, W. A. (1985). The economics of zoning laws : a property rights approach to American land use controls. Baltimore, John Hopkins University Press. Fischel, W. A. (2001). "Why are there NIMBYs?" Journal of Planning Literature 16(1): 80-163. Fulton, W. B. (1997). The reluctant metropolis : the politics of urban growth in Los Angeles. Point Arena, CA, Solano Press Books. Heim, Carol (2001). Leapfrogging, Urban Sprawl, and Growth Management: Phoenix, 1950-2000. American Journal of Economics and Sociology. 60(1) Mieszkowski, P. and E. Mills (1993). "The causes of metropolitan suburbanization." Journal of Economic Perspectives 7(3): 135-147. Mills, E. (2000). "A Thematic History of Urban Economic Analysis." Brookings-Wharton Papers on Urban Affairs 2000(1): 52. Nelson, A. C. (1992). "Preserving Prime Farmland in the Face of Urbanization: Lessons from Oregon." Journal of the American Planning Association 58(4): 467. O'Sullivan, A. (2003). Urban economics. Boston, McGraw-Hill/Irwin. O'Toole, R. The Folly of Smart Growth Porter, D. R. and Growth Management Institute. (1997). Managing growth in America's communities. Washington, D.C., Island Press. Shoemake, J. (1999). "The smalling of America?: Growth management statutes and the dormant commerce clause." DUKE LAW JOURNAL 48(4): 891-931. Walker, P. and L. Fortmann (2003). "Whose landscape? A political ecology of the 'exurban' Sierra." CULTURAL GEOGRAPHIES 10(4): 469-491.