The stubborn persistence of local land use powers: a comment on Morrill

Contrary to Professor Morrill's thesis, land use powers in the United States are not centralizing in the hands of regional and national elites favoring metropolitan consumption interests. Indeed, the article cites evidence that land use powers have decentralized since the 1970s. The white middle and upper classes, concentrated in suburban residential enclaves, are well-served by decentralized land-use controls. Morrill is right to be concerned about threats to local democracy in the United States. But his suggested solution, leaving local governments alone to set land use policies, is flawed. Regional land use planning, does not necessarily reduce local liberty but could enhance it by dampening the beggar-thy-neighbor chase for tax ratables and enhancing the residential choices of low-income, as well as minority, households.