credit: Ryan Ludwig
credit: Ryan Ludwig

This is part three of the series “How Government Regulation Forces Americans Into Their Cars”, where I publish a recent paper by a local professor Michael Lewyn. Read the other parts: part one | part two.

If you live in a residential zone but live within a block or two of a commercial street, you can walk to stores–and where residential areas are compact, quite a few people will have this opportunity. But Jacksonville’s Zoning Code rigorously limits residential density. As noted above, nine of Jacksonville’s seventeen residential zones are “rural” or “low-density” zones. [FN15]

In each of these zones, the city code mandates that houses use a certain amount of land–at least one or two acres in the most “rural” zone, [FN16] 6000 square feet (or slightly under .14 of an acre) [FN17] in the most compact zone, [FN18] and intermediate amounts of land in other low-density zones. [FN19]

Such low densities reduce the opportunities of both pedestrians and transit users. If each residence consumes large amounts of land, fewer residences can be placed within a short walk of shops or offices. Thus, antidensity regulations reduce the number of people who can live within walking distance of shops or jobs. And in low-density areas, very few people will live within walking distance of a bus stop, [FN20] which, in turn, means that very few people can conveniently take the bus to work. [FN21]

By contrast, more compact neighborhoods increase transportation choices because more people in an area means more potential riders within a short walking distance of a bus stop. Some commentators have suggested that a neighborhood must have at least seven or eight dwelling units per acre to support significant public transit service. [FN22] Only 7.25 units per acre may be built in Jacksonville’s most compact low-density zone, [FN23] and even lower densities are mandated in the city’s other low-density zones. [FN24] Thus, Jacksonville’s antidensity regulations mean that very few people can conveniently use the city’s bus system to reach jobs or other destinations.

Footnotes

[FN15]. See supra note 7 and accompanying text.

[FN16]. JACKSONVILLE, FLA., ORDINANCE CODE § 656.304 (requiring a minimum lot size of either one to two acres in “Rural Residential Zone” depending on extent of sewer and water service).

[FN17]. One acre contains 43,560 square feet. Tom Kuhnle, The Federal Income Tax Implications of Water Transfers, 47 STAN. L. REV. 533, 533 n.3 (1995). So a neighborhood with 6000-square-foot houses has 7.25 houses per acre.

[FN18]. JACKSONVILLE, FLA., ORDINANCE CODE § 56.305(II)(d)(2) (stating that in “Low Density Residential” districts, the minimum lot size in the most compact district is 6000 square feet).

[FN19]. Id. (requiring minimum lot sizes of 44,560, 21,780, 4,000, 10,800, 8800, and 7200 square feet in various zoning districts).

[FN20]. Since Jacksonville has no local rail service outside downtown, the author used the term “bus” when referring to public transit. See Innovative Transp. Techs., Jacksonville’s Automated Skyway Express Downtown Peoplemover, http://faculty.washington.edu/~jbs/itrans/jack.htm
(last visited Apr. 14, 2007) (describing Jacksonville’s rail system as a “downtown peoplemover”).

[FN21]. See Patrick Driscoll, San Antonio Transit System to Hold Public Hearings on Proposed Service Changes, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, Nov. 12, 2002, at 8B, available at 2002 WLNR 9027324 (describing quarter mile as “convenient walk” to bus stop); Kevin Wiatrowski, Advocates Seek Faster Bus Route Expansion: Cross-County Line Slated for 2009, TAMPA TRIBUNE, Oct. 30, 2005, PASCO, at 1, available at 2005 WLNR 18123787 (quoting local transportation researcher’s statement: “Given more than a quarter-mile walk to the bus stop, most people who can will drive.”).

[FN22]. See Robert H. Freilich, The Land-Use Implications of Transit-Oriented Development: Controlling the Demand Side of Transportation Congestion and Urban Sprawl, 30 URB. LAW. 547, 552 n.18 (1998) (”[R]esidential densities of at least 7-15 dwelling units per acre are needed in order to encourage the utilization of public transit.”); Frank McDonald, Dublin’s Future as a High-Rise City Discounted, IRISH TIMES (Ireland), Nov. 5, 2005, at 7, available at 2005 WLNR 17888696 (”[B]uilding at a density of eight houses per acre would only support minimal bus service.”); Bill Stewart, Officials Consider Transit Proposals for Vancouver Area, THEOREGONIAN, Aug. 14, 1991, at B2, available at 1991 WLNR 4215935 (stating that “[b]us and carpooling need about eight homes per acre” for significant ridership, while rail service requires higher densities).

[FN23]. See supra note 17 and accompanying text.

[FN24]. See supra notes 16 and 18-19.

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