If you ask us what the biggest under-the-radar opportunity is to improve housing in our city, the answer is simple: Zoning 2.0.
What's going on?
This is the first comprehensive rewrite of the City of Atlanta zoning code since the 1980s — a once-in-a-generation chance to make it easier to build the homes Atlantans need.
As currently drafted, Zoning 2.0 falls short. It clocks in at 2000 pages and won’t meaningfully address affordability or expand housing choices at the scale our growing city requires.
We can’t let this moment pass without making real changes that allow more housing types in more neighborhoods and make it simpler and faster to get them approved.
A recent Yimby Action blog post further outlines what's going on: Atlanta’s Zoning 2.0 Is A Missed Opportunity. What do YIMBYs do next?
As they note, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens knows what bold housing leadership looks like. Alongside his work expanding subsidized housing locally, he has co-chaired the National Housing Crisis Task Force, a bipartisan group advancing practical land-use reforms nationwide.
The reforms we know work
The Task Force has identified a slate of evidence-based land use reforms that are already seeing success in other cities to expand housing options and improve affordability. Yet none are included in the current draft of Zoning 2.0:
Atlanta should follow Mayor Dickens and the Task Force's, lead and:
- Allow up to 6 homes by-right on parcels within 1/2 mile from MARTA or the Beltline
- Enable more starter homes by legalizing lot-splitting and reducing minimum lot size requirements to 2,000 sqft.
- Remove family definitions that discriminate against non-traditional households
- Fully eliminate residential parking minimums
- Allow up to 2 Accessory Dwelling Units of 1,000 sqft by-right
- Eliminate explicit unit counts to enable more smaller, affordable apartments
These aren’t radical ideas; they’re grounded in evidence and already delivering results.
Atlanta can meet the moment
Our housing shortage continues to burden and displace people across our city and metro. Zoning reform won’t solve everything, but it will get us closer to having enough homes.
We are asking city leaders to include the Task Force's recommendations in Zoning 2.0.
Take action
Join us and write a letter to city leaders to say Atlanta needs bold, pro-housing reforms so Atlanta can be a place of opportunity for longtime residents and newcomers alike. Add your voice on Zoning 2.0!
Want to go deeper?
Learn more about the full recommendations in the National Housing Crisis Task Force report.
Download our 1-pager comparing Atlanta with peer cities Charlotte, Raleigh, and Durham that already have moved forward with all of these policies.