Cities come into being through a long sequence of conversations, decisions, and acts of imagination. They are the result of planners thinking about the distant horizon, architects shaping ideas into form, developers balancing possibility and risk, and public staff working to uphold the values and intentions that have guided a community over time. These people do not share the same training or the same day to day responsibilities, yet they all rely on zoning to understand what

California’s SB 79 is one of many recent bills that shows how quickly the land-use landscape can shift. The legislation expands what is possible near qualifying transit stops by allowing more height and density in areas that have historically been limited by local zoning. Regardless of whether one supports every detail of the bill, its movement through the Legislature highlights something planners and local governments are experiencing across the country: the rules now change

People outside the land-use world often assume that a parcel is a simple thing. It looks like a clean shape on a map, one zone, one jurisdiction, one set of rules. But anyone whose role  involves interpreting zoning, reviewing applications, or helping the public understand land-use requirements knows this couldn’t be further from the truth. A parcel that seems ordinary at first glance often becomes far more complicated when a planner, permit technician, GIS analyst, assessor,

This year’s AOC Annual Conference in Eugene brought together county leaders from every corner of Oregon. It was a chance for planners, administrators, commissioners, public works teams, assessors, surveyors, and partner agencies to pause, compare notes, and talk openly about what’s working, and what isn’t, in the day-to-day reality of county governance. As we spoke with teams throughout the week, a clear picture emerged. Counties are carrying more responsibility than ever, an