2nd City Zoning

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

A SimCity-inspired map of Chicago’s zoning is drawing praise for making complex land-use rules easy to explore, while also highlighting how much of the city is locked into low-density residential use. Commenters use the tool as a springboard to examine how zoning shapes neighborhood character, transportation, affordability, and racial and class segregation, contrasting Chicago’s patterns with mixed-use traditions in places like Japan and parts of Europe. The conversation also touches on parking mandates, political incentives that favor existing property owners, and efforts to build more transparent, nationwide zoning data.

Overall reception & features

  • Many commenters praise the tool as “amazing,” informative, and fun, especially the SimCity music and clickable zoning details.
  • GitHub repo is shared; several people say it’s much easier to use than official city GIS tools for understanding block-level zoning.

Zoning patterns & urban planning

  • Some initially say zoning shapes look arbitrary and change-averse.
  • Others strongly counter that Chicago’s pattern is quite logical:
    • Commercial along major grid streets at 1-mile (and sometimes ½‑mile) intervals.
    • Industrial along the river and rail.
    • Residential in between, creating “neighborhoods” framed by commercial corridors.
  • There’s disagreement on whether zoning is “frozen”: some argue Chicago has upzoned as needed and is relatively pro‑development.

Equity, segregation, and politics

  • Multiple comments link zoning to racial and class segregation:
    • Single-family zones with large lots correlate with wealth and political power.
    • Highways and infrastructure are cited as tools to separate Black and non‑Black neighborhoods.
  • Local government is described as nominally democratic but in practice driven by property owners and developers; lower‑income people and future residents are underrepresented because they can’t easily participate or don’t yet exist.

Mixed-use, density, and housing affordability

  • Several lament lack of mixed-use zoning and note that traditional urban forms (shops on ground floor, housing above) persist in places like New Orleans.
  • Comparisons are drawn between American “use‑prescriptive” zoning and systems where zones are ordered by intensity and cumulative rights.
  • Commenters tie the housing crisis to elimination of “bottom rung” housing and preferences for homogenous, higher‑status neighborhoods, noting crises exist even in more egalitarian countries.

Parking norms and car subsidies

  • “Right to free parking” is criticized; people often oppose development on parking grounds while refusing to pay for garages.
  • Parking minimums are framed as a car subsidy that undermines housing and walkability.
  • Some argue removing parking mandates appropriately shifts costs to car owners.

Industrial vs residential

  • Thread challenges the game‑logic of exiling industry: much real “industrial” land is light industry (auto shops, warehouses, small fabrication) that can coexist with housing, though some note local pollutants and solvent use.
  • Others value walkable proximity to such services.

Map design, data quality, and usability

  • Several find the residential color scheme confusing: single‑ vs multi‑family differences are subtle.
  • Oak Park’s zoning map is criticized as especially opaque; some suspect it visually hides non–single‑family zoning.
  • Debate over whether the underlying parcel‑level data are fully accurate; at least one person checks the city’s official map and finds address‑by‑address zoning aligned there.
  • Suggestions include:
    • Better color gradients or using color only for coarse types.
    • Relying on tooltips or overlaid zone codes for detail.

SimCity, games, and public perception

  • Commenters discuss how SimCity’s simplified zoning (separate res/com/ind, unrealistic parking and traffic) shapes public intuitions, possibly making mixed-use and realistic parking tradeoffs less legible.
  • Cities: Skylines is praised for more detailed traffic simulation.
  • Debate over whether the site truly looks “SimCity‑style,” with some saying only the icons and minor touches evoke it, not the overall aesthetic.

Related tools and initiatives

  • Official Chicago GIS map is linked; this site is still preferred for zoning exploration.
  • A nationwide zoning atlas and a UK postcode price‑map project are mentioned as conceptually similar efforts.

Bugs, quirks, and miscellany

  • Some users report search not working on mobile Safari, though “find me” does; behavior is unclear due to limited visual feedback.
  • One browser reportedly fails to render the letter “y.”
  • Detroit/SimCity anecdote sparks debate on how much mayors can realistically influence deindustrialization and “white flight.”
  • Lighthearted comments reference disasters, Godzilla, and arcologies as nods to the SimCity theme.