The Freeman 1972 - The Ludwig von Mises Institute

442 THE FREEMAN Julyoffices and stores below and apartmentsabove, an arrangement thatzoning restricted for 50 years.The minimum conclusion is thata blend of commercial and residentialuses does not by itselfmake for unpleasant living.Residential and IndustrialThe compatibility of residentialand industrial use turns entirelyon the question of overflowing ornuisance use. -There is otherwiReno categorical answer to the questionof whether the operation of afactory at any spot on a map willdiminish the amenities of a nearbyresidential area. Zoning treatsthe problem of overflowing use inthe grossest terms, quarantiningthe patient instead of trying tocure the disease and coincidentallycreating enormous traffic problemsby confining factories to remoteareas. To assert that thisquarantine approach of zoning hascontributed to the intensity of ourpresent pollution problems is notwrong. Governmental coercionought to be directed at compellingfactories to confine their businessto their own land so that they areunobjectionable neighbors whereverthey are. The quality of lifeis not and ought not to be dependentupon legislative separation ofresidential and industrial areas.Zoning's bulk and height limitationsturn out to be equally irrelevantto the quality of life. Peoplecan live and, work in very largebuildings in great comfort and insmaller ones in squalor; the contraryis also true.Old Problems Remain; ZoningBrings New OnesFrom these conclusions one furtherconclusion can be drawn. Theunlovely city is not caused by alack of zoning and is not helped byzoning. Zoning simply creates anew set of problems.No zoning plan can be devisedthat does not exhibit the de'adlydefects of the zoning plans dealtwith here. Zoning plans face theproblems of the future with thefull confidence that they can prevent1915 or 1938 or 1959 fromever coming back. They are andhave to be drawn in the light ofold technology, old resources, oldproblems and old ideas. They areinherently inflexible, unable to adjustto new technology, new resources,new ideas, new needs.Zoning plans can confer order, butthe order is the order of the cemeteryor Williamsburg. Zoning, likeall ecosystem modifications, itselfproduces effects unforeseeablewhen the plan is made. The greaterzoning's scope the greater thechance that these unforeseeableeffects will cause monumental andpersistent harm. To argue that thehuge size and complexity of mod-