Zoning is some really boring shit, not to put too fine a point on it. I know. Back in the day, I sat through enough land-use and zoning public hearings that I literally start to shiver when I trip across them on government TV while channel-surfing the cable.
But zoning is key to understanding why Florida is the way it is today (generally messed up, with horrible suburban sprawl, no real urban cities and environmental destruction from the Panhandle to the Keys). And this photo is one example to help us understand how zoning can determine our future, either more of the same or a brave new world.
This article appears in Mar 8-14, 2006.