The role of zoning in systemic racism

Attorney Daniel P. Dalton explores how zoning regulations at the municipal level keep American cities segregated and disadvantage people of color. In an introduction to a zoning discrimination case he is exploring in Almont Township in Michigan, he offers the following introductory comments.

The news of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor is now part of the collective conscious of America.  The senseless deaths have brought the reality of racism into our lives and shaken us to a core.

Racism is not new in zoning. Studies have confirmed how municipal zoning policies are linked to racial discrimination. Scholars and policy makers agree that zoning has been, and currently is, being used as a tool to deter entry of poorer households into wealthier neighborhoods. Low-income minority households become trapped in poor neighborhoods as a result of “exclusionary” zoning, contributing to racial segregation and disparities. Scholars also argue that zoning is used to steer industrial activity towards minority neighborhoods leading to disproportionate toxic exposure and depressed land values.

As a land use and zoning attorney, I have seen how race plays a role in zoning. And I find that the more common application of racism in zoning occurs inside the office of the Planning Department and at the dais of the Planning Commission. 

Read the whole thing here.

Follow Opportunity Now on Twitter @svopportunity