iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Sara C. Bronin @sarabronin.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Read this paper w/"Keeping AI in its Zone" which I also posted today: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.... We must avoid a second siren song that understanding zoning is easy. It is not. And no single metric can reveal the contents or effects of a zoning code. We can use new tools like NZA to do better.

papers.ssrn.com

KEEPING AI IN ITS ZONE

With zoning-reform fever sweeping local governments, state legislatures, and even Congress, there is an urgent push to understand exactly how zoning works. Unfo

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Sara C. Bronin @sarabronin.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Read this alongside the WRLURI paper also posted today (papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....). Being more realistic about what AI can do in zoning can help relevant fields avoid another reputational nose-dive, & give us a fighting chance of truly understanding exactly how this power shapes our world.

papers.ssrn.com

It's time to retire the Wharton Index

Empirical research on land use regulation has a credibility problem. For two decades, studies linking regulation to housing costs, residential segregation, and

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Sara C. Bronin @sarabronin.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

characterize, predict results from, and extract information from zoning codes. I reveal the results of AI trials conducted by the NZA. And I suggest recalibrating our expectations about how AI can be successfully applied to zoning, offering specific potential applications.

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Sara C. Bronin @sarabronin.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

This paper identifies relevant regulatory attributes, including inconsistent structure and terminology, the prevalence of alternative regulations, and mismatches between text and map, that support my argument. I provide a taxonomy of recent, problematic scholarship that uses AI to...

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Sara C. Bronin @sarabronin.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Drawing from @zoningatlas.bsky.social, I posit that zoning is a dynamic body of law that demands interpretation, contextualization, & other practices of human reasoning - not a static dataset waiting to be harvested. & I show how too many people working on zoning ignore its key characteristics.

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Sara C. Bronin @sarabronin.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

MAJOR PAPER DROP #2: Anyone claiming AI can read zoning codes is wrong. From academics offering chimerical metrics to private zoning-data companies producing AI slop, too many believe in AI shortcuts: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.... This belief is only helping us misunderstand the law faster.

papers.ssrn.com

KEEPING AI IN ITS ZONE

With zoning-reform fever sweeping local governments, state legislatures, and even Congress, there is an urgent push to understand exactly how zoning works. Unfo

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Sara C. Bronin @sarabronin.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Scholars who have relied on this metric must regroup, reassess, and maybe even retract (sorry). We conclude by proposing a path forward for stronger, more nuanced land use scholarship using reliable data that can actually tell us something real. Stay tuned for Major Paper Drop #2.

lnkd.in

This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn

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Sara C. Bronin @sarabronin.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

(2) Map it, showing that omitting unincorporated counties - & accepting limited response rates (even in key metros) - render the index too unrepresentative to be valuable. (3) Ground-truth it against geocoded, standardized NZA data, finding correlations w/actual restrictiveness are random/negative.

lnkd.in

This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn

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Sara C. Bronin @sarabronin.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

I've drafted versions of this paper since I started @zoningatlas.bsky.social five years ago, but thanks to Scott Markley (w/big 💪 analysis), it's finally seeing the light of day. With Matt Harris, we: (1) Disassemble the index, showing why the 12 subindices cannot possibly measure restrictiveness.

lnkd.in

This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn

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Sara C. Bronin @sarabronin.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

MAJOR PAPER DROP #1: 1,500. That's how many academic papers cite the Wharton Residential Land Use Regulatory Index (WRLURI) - not including White House reports & popular media. The only problem? It doesn't do what it says it does. It's time to retire it. Read on: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

papers.ssrn.com

It's time to retire the Wharton Index

Empirical research on land use regulation has a credibility problem. For two decades, studies linking regulation to housing costs, residential segregation, and

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Sara C. Bronin @sarabronin.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Was on a break this summer, but thank you for including this in the library!

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Reposted by Sara C. Bronin

Jonathan Berk 🏠 @berkie1.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

"Without high, measurable benchmarks, American taxpayers stand to waste tens of millions of dollars on window dressing. HUD needs to write ground rules that hold grant recipients accountable for reforms that actually create housing." @sarabronin.bsky.social www.vitalcitynyc.org/increasing-h...

vitalcitynyc.org

The Road to Producing More Housing Passes Through Meaningful Local Zoning Reforms

America needs more homes in the right places. That means fixing zoning.

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Sara C. Bronin @sarabronin.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

Need law students? Got some great leads so far - & I have a few additional students looking for experience. Transit, housing, environmental, and cultural heritage firms (even non-law firms!) very welcome. (Feel free to repost/send to others!)

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Sara C. Bronin @sarabronin.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

They're open to a variety of settings - law firms, environmental consultancies, housing nonprofits, transit orgs... so don't be shy. Some come with funding, some are doing study abroad so want a month-long thing - big variety, but I can vouch for/speak to all of their strengths! @gwlaw.bsky.social

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Sara C. Bronin @sarabronin.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

Could you use a LAW STUDENT this summer for a discrete project or full/part-time position in property, land use, energy☀️, &/or environmental🌴 law? Some of my Property Law 1Ls - skilled at AI, title searches, & zoning analysis - are available in DC, VA, MD, NYC, FL, IL, MA, MN, CA. DM me w/interest!

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National Zoning Atlas @zoningatlas.bsky.social · 25/03/2026

We've been named one of @fastcompany.com's Most Innovative Companies of 2026 in Real Estate & Urban Development. 🤓🏆 We're proud to share this recognization with our staff, partners, volunteers, and our many map users finding ways to use the NZA to improve zoning in their own communities.

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Reposted by Sara C. Bronin

National Zoning Atlas @zoningatlas.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

No matter if it's a 2,000 sqft subdivided plot or a sprawling 20 acres, you can't have housing without the lot that lies beneath. ⬇️ In our Second Zoning Primer, we break down what NZA data reveals about minimum lot size requirements for single-family zoning nationwide. www.zoningatlas.org/lots

zoningatlas.org

MINIMUM LOT SIZES — National Zoning Atlas

The National Zoning Atlas (NZA) tracks the way zoning treats minimum lot sizes across thousands of jurisdictions. Learn more about what minimum lot sizes are and what the NZA has discovered to date ab...

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Reposted by Sara C. Bronin

State Democracy Research Initiative @uwlawdemocracy.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

We had a lovely time in Ann Arbor at the University of Michigan Law School co-sponsoring an academic roundtable on state and local governance with Alexandra Klass, Nina Mendelson, and @chrisjwalker.bsky.social!!

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Sara C. Bronin @sarabronin.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

Key to the City: How Zoning Shapes Our World is now in paperback! Just got a stack of books from my publisher W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. - just in time for steamy beach read season. 🏝️👙🤭

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Sara C. Bronin @sarabronin.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

Victory for NYC congestion pricing! District court's 149-page opinion finds tolls can remain in place, & wildly popular program can endure: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us... My recent @yalelawjournal.bsky.social Forum article details the lawsuit backstory: yalelawjournal.org/collections/...

yalelawjournal.org

Transportation Law's Congestion Problem | Yale Law Journal

Transportation law has a congestion problem—at least for innovative, locally driven projects that aim to reduce driving. The legal battles over congestion...

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Sara C. Bronin @sarabronin.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

Surprise, AZ, is fighting a DHS move to site an ICE detention facility there. @zoningatlas.bsky.social shows the lot in the Light Industrial district - detention centers not allowed! But even if zoning can be overridden by feds, NEPA/NHPA might help stall it. More: www.azfamily.com/2026/02/18/s...

azfamily.com

Surprise leaders still seeking answers about DHS plan for ICE facility

Documents obtained by Arizona’s Family Investigates this week outline the Department of Homeland Security’s plan to spend hundreds of millions of dollars converting and operating a warehouse into a 1,...

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Reposted by Sara C. Bronin

Tom Broderick @trumbullbrod.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

Life isn’t “one size fits all,” so our lots shouldn’t be, either. No one will be forced to shrink their lot, but it will pave the way for incremental change. Let’s allow our friends, families, and neighbors the flexibility, freedom, and choice to right-size their lots, their homes, and their lives.

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Sara C. Bronin @sarabronin.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

The lot sizes would be reduced in areas with sewer/water infrastructure; sensitive areas are excluded. A similar proposal was advanced in 2021 through an Issue Brief from @prohomesct.bsky.social & available at www.prohomesct.org/lots.

prohomesct.org

Sensible Lot Sizes — Pro-Homes CT

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Sara C. Bronin @sarabronin.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

The CT Legislature is considering a bill that would lower minimum lot sizes to 5,000 SF. I submitted supportive testimony relying on @zoningatlas.bsky.social data that "helps paint a picture of the need for a new approach to minimum lot sizes for single-family land": www.cga.ct.gov/2026/hsgdata...

cga.ct.gov

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Greg Shill @gregshill.com · 11/02/2026

✨ introducing… ✨ 🌇 Transportation for the Abundant Society 🚅 "Abundance" says our problem is artificial scarcity—especially housing. But you can’t build your way out if transportation policy still treats traffic flow as sacred. Transportation is the binding constraint. ssrn.com/abstract=538...

Abstract for Transportation for the Abundant Society:

A growing chorus known as the abundance movement seeks to overcome artificial scarcity in the built environment—especially housing. Yet this movement’s signature goal of increasing housing production collides with a central driver of scarcity: development restrictions rooted in traffic concerns. Advocates often assume that building more housing will generate support for needed transportation reform. Experience suggests otherwise. In auto-dependent regions, adding housing without reconfiguring transportation tends to reinforce the logic of restriction. Unlocking abundance’s promised feedback loops requires re-grounding transportation policy in its relationship to land use.

This Article makes two contributions. First, it introduces into legal analysis a core urban-planning framework: transportation accessibility, which evaluates system performance by users’ ability to reach destinations. Though facially modest, anchoring policy in accessibility would depart sharply from a century of practice, with significant implications across state and local government law.

Second, drawing on 13 original interviews with current and former transportation officials, the Article develops a novel account of institutional barriers to reform. Far from the marble corridors and mahogany courtrooms where law is articulated, transportation policy is functionally made in the unglamorous offices of state and local government. We call this institutional crucible—shaped by agency culture and industry convention as well as hard law—“transportation policy linoleum.” It helps explain why proven, seemingly unobjectionable reforms routinely wither. The Article closes with a policy playbook designed to help accessibility break through the linoleum and deliver abundance.

Table of Contents

CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION 3
I. ABUNDANCE AND TRANSPORTATION POLICY 6
A. The Rise of Abundance 7
B. Transportation as a Binding Constraint 10
II. THE PURPOSE OF TRANSPORTATION POLICY 17
A. What Counts as Success? 18
B. From Mobility to Access 20
C. Transportation Policy Spillovers 24
1. Housing affordability 24
2. Climate mitigation 28
3. Roadway safety 29
III. OPERATIONAL BARRIERS TO REFORM 32
A. Network Effects and System Interdependence 33
B. Operational Complexity and Risk 34
IV. LEGAL BARRIERS TO REFORM 36
A. NEPA and the Dawn of Conservation Primacy 36
B. Judges as Planners: California’s CEQA Regime 40
C. Judges as Planners Around the Country 44
1. Minnesota and comprehensive planning 44
2. Washington, D.C. and density review 46
3. Montana and constitutional penumbra 46
V. TRANSPORTATION POLICY LINOLEUM 48
A. Policy “In Books” and “In Action”: 13 Interviews 48
B. Fragmentation and Coordination Failures 49
C. Path Dependence and Institutional Lock-In 53
D. Legal Risk and Defensive Administration 55
VI. A POLICY PLAYBOOK FOR ACCESS 57
A. Behavioral Data as Participation 57
1. Ex ante participation 58
2. Ex post participation 59
B. Realistic Alternatives Modeling 59
C. A More Honest Cost-Benefit Analysis 60
1. Requiring cost-benefit discipline 61
2. Accounting for opportunity costs and externalities 63
CONCLUSION 64

ToC continued, plus first bit of text from article:

A central claim of the emerging “abundance agenda” is that in the physical world, more is more: more housing, more clean energy, and more infrastructure to support both. Abundance brings the American promise of plenty into policy, arguing that government should expand capacity—so that individuals can access the good life and society can advance climate goals, scientific discovery, and prosperity. In both its academic and popular expressions, the ideologically diverse movement contends that law has created artificial scarcity and that the remedy is to loosen outdated constraints and rebuild state capacity so government can build and approve major projects—housing, transportation, energy, health—more quickly and reliably.
Abundance draws on a substantial literature diagnosing law-made supply constraints in American public policy. Its core question is pragmatic: how to clear regulatory blockages to enable more building. Scholars have long identified such blockages at the intersection of land use and transportation, from highways to high-speed rail. Yet even improved megaprojects would not meet most Americans’ daily transportation needs. And the connection between transportation policy and abundance remains underdeveloped, even as political interest grows.

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Sara C. Bronin @sarabronin.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

Story about the need for generational change in the First Congressional district: www.nytimes.com/2026/01/29/u... Proud of @lukebronin.bsky.social (no relation... anymore!) for challenging the status quo & stepping up to represent his community.

nytimes.com

Groups Back Larson Challenger, Calling for Generational Change

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Sara C. Bronin @sarabronin.bsky.social · 20/01/2026

Also read 2 law-prof-superstars essays: * Jennifer Chacon at @law.stanford.edu (immigration) * @rickhills.bsky.social at @nyulaw.bsky.social (civil rights grants) Thanks to @gwlaw.bsky.social student Clare Westra for assistance & excellent YLJ editors, esp EIC Jeremy Thomas & Melissa Gutwein! 🙏

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Sara C. Bronin @sarabronin.bsky.social · 20/01/2026

🚦🚕 New Essay in @yalelawjournal.bsky.social Forum: "Transportation Law's Congestion Problem," covering the NYC congestion pricing battle & encouraging law to facilitate local projects that reduce driving. 🚘🚊 Full "Cities & States at a Crossroads" Collection here: yalelawjournal.org/collection/c...

yalelawjournal.org

Yale Law Journal

For over a century, the Yale Law Journal has been at the forefront of legal scholarship, sparking conversation and encouraging reflection among scholars and students, as well as practicing lawyers and...

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Sara C. Bronin @sarabronin.bsky.social · 20/01/2026

I really enjoyed this conversation with two preservation friends about the importance of zoning to preservationists! Check out the full video in the link below:

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Sara C. Bronin @sarabronin.bsky.social · 13/01/2026

This goes on the full-audit list!

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Sara C. Bronin @sarabronin.bsky.social · 13/01/2026

And I'm admitted to the Supreme Court and didn't know that either...!?! Sigh.

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Sara C. Bronin @sarabronin.bsky.social · 11/01/2026

How could I have missed that the comma after "see" in "See, e.g." is supposed to be italicized!? (In this official Bluebook example, blue = italicize.) Hoping this was a recent change & I don't have to renounce every legal text I've ever written! They're filled with plain commas in this position...

Bluebook citation with italicized comma.

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Sara C. Bronin @sarabronin.bsky.social · 30/12/2025

I agree. I have an article coming out in the Yale Law Journal Forum next month about congestion pricing & its sordid legal history (going back 100 years!)... will send link.

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Sara C. Bronin @sarabronin.bsky.social · 30/12/2025

OK! We always say in order to understand WHEN a local zoning override is necessary, you need to understand the underlying zoning first. If an override happens, you can quantify its effects with a before-and-after analysis. At some point, we'll work with a state to model this. Maybe CA! 🤔

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Sara C. Bronin @sarabronin.bsky.social · 30/12/2025

What does "statewide zoning base layer mean"...? With help from partners, NZA just finished a first pass through CA (which we are running corrections on, then updating for 2025/2026 codes...). Explore at www.zoningatlas.org/atlas, & a couple of webinars are up at www.zoningatlas.org/california.

zoningatlas.org

California Zoning Atlas — National Zoning Atlas

The California Zoning Atlas is a project of the National Zoning Atlas, which aims to digitize, demystify, and democratize information about zoning conditions in more than 30,000 U.S. jurisdictions. In...

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Sara C. Bronin @sarabronin.bsky.social · 29/12/2025

This "High-Impact" honor means a lot to the NZA team working to make zoning data accessible, accurate, & actionable. In 2026, our philanthropic priority is an engagement team to translate our data for advocates, policymakers, & the public. 🫶Consider supporting our work!: www.zoningatlas.org/donate

zoningatlas.org

Giving to Land Use Atlas, Inc.

Help Us Make Land Use Data Actionable and Accessible! We’re building the National Zoning Atlas and National Preservation Atlas to make information about the land use rules that shape our communities a...

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Sara C. Bronin @sarabronin.bsky.social · 23/12/2025

I’ve attended a couple of these Lincoln Institute Journalists Fora. They've inspired us at the NZA to do a (virtual) media training in the new year to ensure reporters know how to use it. Stay tuned, but in the meantime, media can learn more about the NZA at www.zoningatlas.org/media!

zoningatlas.org

MEDIA RESOURCES — National Zoning Atlas

Explore the National Zoning Atlas Media Resources page to learn how reporters can access data, reports, and visuals to support accurate reporting on how zoning shapes housing, land use, and communitie...

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Sara C. Bronin @sarabronin.bsky.social · 20/12/2025

We use a standard metric to count pages. We also collate supplemental appendices, etc., into single PDFs. Note many codes aren't online. I just got a 177-page paper copy in the mail after an FOI from a NC jurisdiction. Bottom line: AI can't compete with our @zoningatlas.bsky.social team. 🥊💪🥇

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Sara C. Bronin @sarabronin.bsky.social · 20/12/2025

Of the thousands of jurisdictions in our map, the average zoning code length is 179.

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Reposted by Sara C. Bronin

Melissa & Chris Bruntlett @modacitylife.com · 14/12/2025

2. Key to the City - How Zoning Shapes our World by @sarabronin.bsky.social. bsky.app/profile/moda...

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Sara C. Bronin @sarabronin.bsky.social · 11/12/2025

Nolan's right: the right statewide reforms can work - & in some cases have been transformative. @zoningatlas.bsky.social has revealed that state laws don't always hit the mark (e.g., overlooked barriers, lack of local compliance). But we shouldn't undercut the potential of statewide reforms.

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Sara C. Bronin @sarabronin.bsky.social · 09/12/2025

Hi Rep!, Thanks for working your way through it! Maybe it's good reading for the East Lyme planning & zoning commissions... what with the 83% of land subject to 1-acre min lot sizes and all (per zoningatlas.org/atlas)? GOOD LUCK as you advance better zoning in CT!

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Sara C. Bronin @sarabronin.bsky.social · 02/12/2025

"Bronin challenges readers to think big when it comes to zoning reform. And it illuminates the beauty... possible in urban spaces... Key to the City stands as a powerful call for (thoughtful) action." Kind review by @ezrarosser.bsky.social @jotwell.bsky.social!: property.jotwell.com/unlocking-dy...

property.jotwell.com

Unlocking Dynamic Growth - Property

Sara C. Bronin, Key to the City: How Zoning Shapes Our World (2024).Ezra RosserProfessor Sara Bronin’s book, Key to the City, pulls back the curtain on how urban zoning works. And through in-depth cit...

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Felicity M. Maxwell @cityjane.bsky.social · 28/11/2025

And then there were FOUR 🎉🎉 Congratulations to Connecticut, which earlier this week became the 4th state to pass statewide Parking Reform in 2025: bsky.app/profile/ctpa...

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