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This may come as a surprise to you, but people like living in pleasant surroundings. Just because I own the land does not mean I can open an abattoir next to a

This may come as a surprise to you, but people like living in pleasant surroundings. Just because I own the land does not mean I can open an abattoir next to an elementary school. Using land in different ways results in externalities that affect those around it. The people of a community should have some right to protect themselves from those externalities. How that happens in practice is a deeply flawed, messy, ugly process, but collectively deciding where to draw the line is part of living together as a community.

jcgrillo 3mo ago
The next town over from where I live has basically no rules. No zoning, if you want to turn your property into a junkyard go right ahead! Even still, people are successfully fighting against a trash company putting in a landfill. I believe the levers they're pulling are a state wetlands permit and a state solid waste permit. The system is working.
- kannanvijayan 3mo ago
  Isn't that just leveraging the benefit of having access to a higher level of government which does have rules?
  - jcgrillo 3mo ago
    Sure, and why not? And there's an even higher level of government above that one. And if we really start misbehaving, there's an international level above that one... I think computer nerds call that kind of thing "defense in depth".
anthonypasq 3mo ago
Japan has essentially no local zoning laws and things work perfectly fine.
- rescripting 3mo ago
  This is false, they’re called “Land Use Zones” in Japan. It’s a national system, unlike in the west which is largely implemented piecemeal by municipality.
  - anthonypasq 3mo ago
    >no local zoning laws can you read brother. do you know what the word local means
    - rescripting 3mo ago
      What does it matter if the zoning laws are local or national? You're OK with the feds telling you what you can and can't do with your land, but not local governments? Seems like a distinction without a difference.

jcgrillo 3mo ago

The next town over from where I live has basically no rules. No zoning, if you want to turn your property into a junkyard go right ahead! Even still, people are successfully fighting against a trash company putting in a landfill. I believe the levers they're pulling are a state wetlands permit and a state solid waste permit. The system is working.

kannanvijayan 3mo ago
Isn't that just leveraging the benefit of having access to a higher level of government which does have rules?
- jcgrillo 3mo ago
  Sure, and why not? And there's an even higher level of government above that one. And if we really start misbehaving, there's an international level above that one... I think computer nerds call that kind of thing "defense in depth".

anthonypasq 3mo ago

Japan has essentially no local zoning laws and things work perfectly fine.

rescripting 3mo ago
This is false, they’re called “Land Use Zones” in Japan. It’s a national system, unlike in the west which is largely implemented piecemeal by municipality.
- anthonypasq 3mo ago
  >no local zoning laws can you read brother. do you know what the word local means
  - rescripting 3mo ago
    What does it matter if the zoning laws are local or national? You're OK with the feds telling you what you can and can't do with your land, but not local governments? Seems like a distinction without a difference.