2025: Momentum, Made Practical

2025 marked a year of real momentum for UrbanForm. We expanded to serve 29 jurisdictions (and counting), reflecting growing trust from public agencies and professionals who depend on zoning clarity to move projects forward. In parallel, we continued to strengthen our technical processes, adding requested zoning analysis information and increasing transparency into authoritative sources. Together, these advances deliver broader coverage and greater confidence for everyone working in the built environment.

But the most meaningful change this year was not just scale. It was what that scale made possible in practice.

From Open-Ended Research to a Clear Starting Point

For most professionals, zoning has never been the work itself. It has been the work before the work. Site research often meant tracking down scattered documents, reconciling conflicting sources, and waiting for confirmation before a project could even begin.

By the end of 2025, that starting point looked very different.

Across jurisdictions using UrbanForm, professionals were increasingly able to move from site identification to zoning understanding in a single sitting, rather than over days or weeks of document review, follow-up emails, and preliminary meetings.

Glenn McIntire, Building Official, City of Boardman:

That shift changes how early decisions are made. It affects feasibility, design direction, internal coordination, and the quality of questions brought forward. It changes how work begins, not just how it proceeds.

What Momentum Looked Like Day to Day

This momentum showed up quietly, but consistently. Planners used UrbanForm to orient requests faster and focus conversations on substance rather than sourcing. Architects used it to assess constraints earlier, before design paths had hardened. Developers used it to reduce uncertainty at the beginning of a project, when risk is highest and options are still open.

Early clarity also changes how information reaches the public.

Nicolette Cline, City Planner, City of Bandon:

The value here was not novelty, it was reliability. Experienced professionals were not looking for a new way to do their work. They were looking for a clearer, easier way to get important work done.

Strengthening the Foundation Behind the Scenes

As use deepened, expectations rose with it. Much of 2025 was spent strengthening the systems that support clarity and efficiency. This included adding requested zoning analyses, improving how information is traced back to authoritative sources, and ensuring the platform remains dependable over time.

This work is intentionally ongoing. Zoning changes. Jurisdictions update their records. Maintaining clarity over time requires care, not just features. For us, strengthening the platform is an act of stewardship.

Serving the Full Built Environment

UrbanForm exists to support the full ecosystem of the built environment. Zoning sits at the intersection of public responsibility and private initiative, and clarity benefits both.

For public agencies, clearer access to zoning information helps extend staff capacity and improve transparency. For architects and designers, it supports better decisions earlier in the process. For developers, it reduces uncertainty at the moment when options are still open.

Nichole Rutherford, City Manager, City of Coos Bay

Looking Ahead

As we move into 2026, our focus remains steady. We will continue to expand thoughtfully, continue strengthening the platform based on real-world use, and continue working closely with the jurisdictions and professionals who rely on UrbanForm every day.

Doug Rux, former Community Development Director, City of Newberg

Progress, for us, is not about speed for its own sake. It is about building something durable. Technology that becomes a dependable part of how better buildings, cities, and environments take shape.

We are grateful to the jurisdictions and professionals who have placed their trust in UrbanForm so far. That trust is what makes this work possible, and it is what continues to guide how we grow.