ABSTRACT
LOCAL LAND-USE PLANNING In the United States, the “right of property ownership”—that is, freedom to do as one pleases with one’s property-is considered sacrosanct. Consequently, the idea of planning or land-use control is not well received by a large number of individual property owners. In fact, in many communities, land-use planning by government is virtually nonexistent. It was not until 1916 that New York State (in the city of New York) began to pass local land-use or zoning legislation. New York’s actions could not have proved timelier. As early as 1870, Americans began to pile into urban cities. By 1910, New York City’s population had reached 4,766,883,1 all of whom crowded into unplanned neighborhoods and drove on unplanned streets.
