Zoning for Eds and Meds
Zoning Practice — November 2021
By Joseph DeAngelis, AICP, David Morley, AICP
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Colleges, universities, and hospitals often function as “anchor” institutions. They occupy and manage large amounts of real estate; employ hundreds or thousands of workers; purchase large quantities of local goods and services; and attract businesses, residents, and visitors. For these reasons, the campuses that house major educational and health-care institutions merit special planning and zoning attention.
As campus activity increases or decreases, housing markets, transportation patterns, and economic activity all respond. While stability may be a hallmark of the institutions at the heart of these campuses, they are neither static nor uniform. Campuses expand to accommodate a growing population of users, and in extreme cases, declining usage can force campus downsizing or abandonment.
This issue of Zoning Practice presents a typology of educational and health-care campuses, summarizes key zoning considerations and alternative zoning approaches for those campuses, and speculates about how technological and demographic change may affect the spatial relationship of these campuses to their host communities in the coming decades.
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About the Authors
Joseph DeAngelis, AICP
Joe DeAngelis, AICP, is a planner and research manager at the American Planning Association, where he manages projects on climate adaptation, natural hazard risk, and community resilience. Joe has co-authored a variety of publications while at APA, including the 2020 Planning Advisory Service Report “Planning for Infrastructure Resilience” and since 2021, APA’s annual Trend Report. Joe is also the co-author of the upcoming report “Exploratory Scenario Planning for Hazard Mitigation and Climate Adaptation.” Before coming to APA in 2016, Joe worked as a Resilience Planner for the New York City Department of City Planning, where he focused on post-Hurricane Sandy recovery and long-term redevelopment. He holds a Master of Urban Planning degree from CUNY-Hunter College.
David Morley, AICP
David Morley, AICP, is a Research Program Manager at the American Planning Association in Chicago, where he manages and contributes to sponsored research projects; manages the development of the Research KnowledgeBase; develops, organizes, and participates in educational sessions and workshops; and writes for APA publications. Mr. Morley also edits Zoning Practice.