Accessibility refers to the ease and convenience with which a property can be entered by customers, tenants, and other users, particularly through automobile access. It also entails building design and alterations that enable individuals with physical disabilities to enter and maneuver within the building.
Air rights refer to the legal ability to use, control, or occupy the vertical space above a given piece of property. These rights can be leased, sold, or transferred to another party, often significantly impacting property development, urban planning, and real estate markets.
An alley serves as a narrow lane, pathway, or passageway often situated between buildings or behind a building. It is commonly utilized for deliveries, garbage collection, or as a secondary access route.
The American Planning Association (APA) is a professional organization that caters to the needs of regional and urban planners, promoting professional standards, research, and education within the field of planning.
The American Planning Association (APA) is a professional organization that provides leadership in the development of vital communities through advocacy, education and the provision of resources for planners and engaged stakeholders.
An arterial highway is a major transportation route commonly found in an urbanized area, designed to deliver substantial traffic volumes efficiently, enabling connectivity between different parts of a city and its suburbs.
Attached housing refers to dwelling units that are connected to each other on at least one side, often separated by firewalls or other physical partitions. This stands in contrast to detached housing, where structures are standalone.
A bedroom community, also known as a commuter town or suburb, is primarily residential in nature, located close to a city or employment center. These communities typically lack substantial employment opportunities themselves and are inhabited largely by workers who commute to urban areas for work.
A beltway is a highway that encircles a metropolitan area, providing access to surrounding suburban areas while also serving as a bypass to alleviate congestion in the central urban area. It is also known as a loop, perimeter, or circumferential highway.
A 'Block' in real estate is typically defined as an area of land enclosed by streets or delineated by street intersections. Blocks form the basic units of city layouts and are crucial in urban planning and design.
A Board of Zoning Appeals is an appointed administrative body that hears and decides appeals on land use and zoning decisions made by local government officials.
A buffer zone is a designated area used as a transitional space between two distinct land uses. This zone helps reduce the potential conflicts and impacts between differing land uses by providing a physical and sometimes functional separation.
A building lot is a parcel of land designated for building purposes, typically within a defined community, subdivision, or urban development plan. These lots are often equipped with the necessary infrastructure and utilities such as water, electricity, and sewer systems.
Building restrictions are provisions in building codes that affect the orientation, size, and appearance of a building, implemented to ensure safety, aesthetics, and sometimes cultural coherence of structures within a particular area.
A Central Business District (CBD) is the commercial and business center of a city, often characterized by a high concentration of office buildings, retail stores, and cultural institutions.
A Combined Statistical Area (CSA) as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau is a aggregation of adjacent metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas that are economically and socially interconnected. CSAs are used for providing a more comprehensive view of the larger regions in which residents live and work, transcending administrative boundaries to better illustrate the multi-faceted nature of these urban clusters.
A comprehensive plan is a set of guidelines developed, mapped, and adopted by a local government to steer public policy towards future development within the jurisdiction. It encompasses various aspects such as transportation, utilities, land use, recreation, and public services.
A Conditional Use Permit (CUP) is a specialized form of zoning variance that allows a property owner to use their land in a way that is not typically permitted under the current zoning laws.
Cumulative zoning is a type of zoning ordinance that permits lighter or less intense uses within areas designated for heavier or more intense uses. This can foster a mix of density and usage, potentially allowing for greater flexibility in urban planning and development.
Density in real estate refers to the intensity of land use, often quantified as the number of dwelling units, residents, or floor space per unit of land area. It is an essential aspect in urban planning and zoning regulations.
Density zoning refers to laws that regulate the number of structures or occupants permitted per unit of land area, aiming to control land use intensity, promote sustainable development, and manage population density.
Development refers to the process of adding improvements to a parcel of land, which can include drainage, utilities, subdividing, access, and buildings. It encompasses all activities from the preparation of detailed plans to securing government permits and the actual construction.
Directional growth refers to the location or direction toward which a city or urban area is expanding. Understanding directional growth is crucial for real estate investors, developers, city planners, and policymakers to make informed decisions about property investments, infrastructure development, and urban planning.
ESRI (Environmental Systems Research Institute) is a renowned service provider specializing in Geographic Information System (GIS) technology. They offer tools and solutions to analyze geographical and spatial data, aiding diverse fields like urban planning, wildlife preservation, and business logistics.
Exclusionary zoning refers to municipal regulations that effectively bar certain types of housing or people from living in certain areas, predominantly limiting access for low- and moderate-income individuals.
Extra-Jurisdictional Territory (EJT) refers to areas outside the official legal boundaries of a city or other governmental unit, over which that government has limited control. The extent and specifics of the territory and controls are defined by state law.
A floodplain is a level land area subject to periodic flooding from a contiguous body of water. Floodplains often play a crucial role in environmental balance and can influence real estate development and insurance costs.
The Floor-Area Ratio (FAR) is a measure of building density that assesses the total floor area of a building in relation to the size of its land parcel. It is commonly used in urban planning to control the massing of buildings and to ensure appropriate land use.
The floor-area ratio (FAR) measures the relationship between the total square footage of a building and the square footage of the land area on which it is built. FAR is regulated by zoning codes and can significantly impact land value and development potential.
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) integrate hardware, software, and data for capturing, managing, analyzing, and displaying all forms of geographically referenced information. GIS allows users to visualize, question, analyze, interpret, and understand data to reveal relationships, patterns, and trends.
A greenbelt is an area of open land retained in its natural state around a residential area, intended to provide open space, recreation opportunities, and a buffer against urban sprawl.
The Heat Island Effect is the phenomenon where urban areas experience higher ambient temperatures compared to their rural surroundings, primarily due to human activities and alterations to land surfaces.
A hectare is a metric unit of area measurement used in the real estate industry, equivalent to 10,000 square meters or approximately 2.471 acres. It is commonly used for larger plots of land in agricultural, forestry, and urban planning contexts.
A designated area where the buildings are considered to have significant historic character, which makes the area eligible for certain federal assistance programs and protects it from clearance in conjunction with federally sponsored projects.
Impact fees are charges levied by a city or county on developers as a condition for granting permission for development projects, typically to cover the costs of expanding public services to accommodate the new development.
In-Fill Development refers to the process of developing vacant or underutilized land within existing urban areas that are already largely developed. This type of development is a strategy to manage urban growth without extending urban boundaries.
Inner City generally refers to the older and more urbanized area of a large city surrounding the Central Business District. It is often characterized by densely populated neighborhoods that may face socioeconomic issues, including low income levels and a high proportion of minority racial and ethnic groups.
An organization devoted to the exchange of information and ideas pertaining to land economics, fostering a network of professionals engaged in various aspects of land use, development, and conservation.
Land economics is a branch of economics that studies the allocation, use, and value of land. This field aims to understand how land resources are utilized, valued, and managed, with a special focus on agriculture and urban development. It integrates knowledge from geography, environmental studies, and economic theory to analyze land-related issues.
Land reclamation is the process of creating new land from oceans, seas, riverbeds, or lake beds. This process is used for various purposes including agricultural, industrial, residential, and infrastructural development.
Land use controls or regulations refer to government ordinances, codes, and permit requirements designed to ensure that private use of land and natural resources aligns with established policy standards.
Land Use Intensity (LUI) refers to the extent to which a land parcel is developed, considering the conformity with zoning ordinances and regulations.
Land Use Planning is an activity, generally conducted by a local government, aimed at guiding public and private land use decisions to ensure they are consistent with community policies. It is primarily used to inform Zoning decisions.
Land Use Succession refers to the change in the predominant use of a neighborhood or area over time, often driven by social, economic, and environmental factors. This process can significantly alter the character and demographic makeup of a region.
The term 'linkage' in real estate refers to the physical or economic connection, often pertaining to the time and distance between a land use and support facilities, or between people and their activities. Successful linkage leads to enhanced property value and better quality of life for residents.
The lot and block survey system is commonly used in urban and suburban areas where parcels of land are divided into subdivisions. This system helps in the precise identification and location of property within a subdivision, facilitating land sales, property taxes, and real estate transactions.
A master plan is a comprehensive document encompassing the development concept for an area or project. This document includes narrative and maps that detail the current and future use of the land. It is often prepared by local governments to guide overall development or by developers for specific projects.
A megalopolis is a large, sprawling urban area that consists of several metropolitan regions merging into an unbroken stretch of urban development.
A Metropolitan Division is a county or group of counties within a large Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) that functions as a distinct economic area. These divisions are essential in understanding the economic dynamics within larger urbanized regions.
A mixed-use property combines different types of land uses, such as residential, commercial, and industrial, into one cohesive development. This approach aims to create synergies between the various uses to enhance the overall functionality and convenience of the site.
A neighborhood is a district or locality characterized by similar or compatible land uses. They often have identifiable place names and boundaries composed of major streets, barriers, or abrupt changes in land use.
A New Town is a large mixed-use development designed to provide residences, general shopping, services, and employment, with the basic concept being to construct a community in a previously undeveloped area under a central plan to avoid unplanned development.
The one-hundred-percent location refers to the specific spot in an urban area where land values and rents are the highest, often considered the 'best' or most prime location.
Open Space refers to land within a developed area that remains undeveloped and serves as an amenity to surrounding occupants.
A Planning Commission is a group of citizens appointed by local government officials to conduct hearings and recommend amendments to zoning ordinances. Often collaborative with a professional planning department, the commission ensures the implementation of a comprehensive urban plan.
A platted lot is a parcel of land that has been surveyed and officially recorded on a final plat map, typically within a subdivision. This process includes specifications of lot boundaries, street locations, and utility installations.
Plottage refers to the increase in value realized by combining multiple smaller parcels of land into a single, larger parcel. This process is often employed in real estate to optimize land use and maximize profit.
Plottage value refers to the increased value that results when multiple smaller adjacent plots of land are combined into a single larger plot. This increase in value is due to the greater potential utility and development options that the larger plot offers compared to the individual smaller plots.
A preservation district is a zoning designation covering environmentally sensitive areas, parkland, scenic areas, or historic districts, imposing strict limitations on land use to maintain the essential character of these sites.
Public Purpose is the justification that the government must establish in its powers of Eminent Domain to acquire private property, demonstrating that the property will be used for the public good.
Redevelopment involves the demolition of existing improvements and the construction of new improvements on a site. The new improvements often differ from the old ones in various aspects...
Rezoning is the legal process of changing the designated use of a specific parcel or group of parcels on a zoning map, altering the previous permitted activities to suit new needs or goals. This can involve changing residential areas to commercial, industrial to residential, and more.
A setback line is a defined distance from a curb, property line, or other demarcated boundary within which no permanent structures may be constructed. Setback lines are crucial for urban planning, promoting safety, aesthetics, and privacy within a community.
A Special Use Permit, also known as a Conditional Use Permit, is a right granted by a local zoning authority to conduct specific activities within a zoned district. These activities are conditional uses permitted within the zone only upon special approval from the zoning authority.
Spot Zoning refers to the act of rezoning a specific parcel of land to a use that differs from the zoning classification of its surrounding area. This practice is often scrutinized for creating inconsistencies in land use and is generally disallowed by courts.
Statutory Dedication refers to the formal process where property owners, such as developers of subdivisions, dedicate parts of their property, like streets, to public use by filing a plat.
Strip Development or Strip Shopping Center refers to a form of commercial land use in which individual retail establishments have direct access to a major thoroughfare, commonly lacking an anchor tenant and utilizing intensive signage to attract customers.
Subdivision regulations are government rules that set standards for the design of residential subdivisions within a jurisdiction, determining aspects such as access roads, open space, and public dedications.
A suburb is a town or an unincorporated developed area situated in close proximity to a city. Suburbs are primarily residential areas that often rely on the nearby city for employment and support services. They are generally characterized by low-density development compared to the city.
The Urban Land Institute (ULI) is a global research and education organization that aims to provide leadership in responsible land use and the creation of sustainable communities.
Urban sprawl is a term used to describe the uncontrolled expansion of urban areas. This low-density development often happens on the outskirts of cities and can lead to various socio-economic and environmental issues such as increased dependence on automobiles, extended public infrastructure requirements, and insufficient in-fill development.
Vacant land refers to parcels of land that are not currently being used for any purpose. While it may contain basic utilities and some off-site improvements, it remains unutilized as opposed to developed land.
A zoning variance is permission granted by a zoning authority to a property owner to allow for a specified violation of zoning requirements, typically granted when compliance is impossible without rendering the property virtually unusable.
Zero lot line development refers to houses built directly on the boundary of the lot, leaving little to no yard space. This construction style maximizes land use and is often seen in densely populated urban areas.
A zone refers to an area designated by local government regulations for a specific use, subject to certain restrictions or conditions. These uses can range from commercial to various types of residential applications.
A Zoning Map is an official municipal or local government document used to define how different parcels of land within a jurisdiction can be used, including specifications for residential, commercial, industrial, and other uses.
