How Zoning Won
In 1926, the Supreme Court’s Euclid decision enshrined zoning in US cities. On its 100th anniversary, academics gathered to reflect on the landmark ruling’s mixed legacy.
Thanks to single-family zoning rules, suburban scenes like this, outside of Las Vegas, dominate much of the American landscape.
Photographer: Roger Kisby/BloombergOf all the society-shaping US Supreme Court decisions of the 20th century, from Brown v. Board of Education to Roe v. Wade and beyond, one lesser-known ruling has had the greatest impact on the American landscape — not only the physical character of growth and development, but how we live and work, the lengths of our commutes, and the affordability of homes.
In Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co., a suburb just east of Cleveland barred a real estate company from using their land for industrial use; the developers sued and the case went all the way to the nation’s highest court, which affirmed that municipalities could impose zoning to organize development, as a police power.