News
MAY 2023
US HUD Partners with Legal Constructs Lab
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Office of Policy Development and Research announced a research partnership with the Legal Constructs Lab, awarding $350,000 to enable completion of the National Zoning Atlas in the country's 50 largest metropolitan areas.
APRIL 2023
WSJ Features Bronin Talking Parking
In the Wall Street Journal, Professor Bronin is quoted as supporting the elimination of minimum parking requirements. In 2023, she published research on the prevalence of parking requirements in zoning ordinances and has forthcoming research on the extent to which parking requirements dampen housing supply.
APRIL 2023
4 National Zoning Atlas Teams Present at the APA
Before an audience of several hundred planners attending the American Planning Association annual conference, the Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont Atlas Team leaders explained the motivation, team composition, and research findings of their atlas projects.
FEBRUARY 2023
Latina Magazine Publishes Family History
Latina Magazine published Professor Bronin's family's history recounting the federal government's uncompensated taking of her ancestors' land in 1846. Based on "Land Grab: The Untold Story of Fort Brown," published in the Latino Book Review, the story raises questions about who the law serves, and whose stories are told.
January 2023
Machine Learning Project Phase 2 Begins
Thanks to a National Science Foundation Human-Environment and Geographical Sciences Program award ($400,000), the Legal Constructs Lab will begin the second phase of its machine learning project. Co-Principal Investigator Cornell Tech professor Alexander Rush will supervise the technical aspects of the research.
December 2022
Cambridge Publishes Handbook on Disaster Law and Policy
A book chapter covering the intersection of historic preservation and disaster law in the United States (based on the previously published article, “Law’s Disaster: Heritage at Risk”) was included in a Cambridge University Press volume on disaster law edited by Susan Kuo, John Travis Marshall, and Ryan Rowberry.
November 2022
Grant for National Zoning Atlas Funds 3 Positions
The Mercatus Center at George Mason University has given $642,225 to create three new positions at the National Zoning Atlas: two on the geospatial side of the atlas, and an outreach coordinator. Mercatus has also supported the Hawaii, Montana, New Hampshire, Tennessee, and Texas atlas teams.
October 2022
Lab Funded to Explore Legal Issues of Living Building Materials
The National Science Foundation announced the winners of its “Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation” program, which include a Cornell-Montana State team proposing to develop mechanically-adaptive living structural materials. The Legal Constructs Lab will research novel legal issues surrounding these materials.
September 2022
How Can People Work Toward Age-Friendly Communities?
The AARP “Housing for People of All Ages” workshop convened local leaders, housing practitioners, and others to explore how we can provide safe, affordable housing options for people of all backgrounds, incomes and abilities. Professor Bronin keynoted Day 2, following Day 1 keynote HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge.
September 2022
Penn Hosts Lecture on Equity in Land Use
Professor Bronin talked about “The Equity Payoff of the National Zoning Atlas" at the Weitzman School of Design. She covered the project’s origins in the Connecticut Zoning Atlas, and about what we can learn about residential segregation, school access, and transportation inequity by scaling up the work.
August 2022
“The Rosetta Stone of Zoning” Podcast
The Go Cultivate! podcast released a can’t-miss 50-minute episode, “The Rosetta Stone of Zoning.” It covered much of the zoning-related work of the Legal Constructs Lab, including Desegregate Connecticut, “Zoning by a Thousand Cuts,” and the National Zoning Atlas, among other things.
July 2022
Forbes Profiles “Three Women, Three Projects”
Zoning has played a huge role in contributing to the country’s enduring housing crisis. In a feature story, Forbes featured three prominent women who are deploying cutting-edge data techniques to address this crisis. One of the trio was Sara Bronin for her leadership in founding the National Zoning Atlas.
July 2022
Convening Local Historic Preservation Commissioners at the NAPC Forum
“Bridging the Divide,” the 2022 National Association of Preservation Commissions' Forum, focused on the concerns and educational needs of preservation commissions, their staff, and surrounding communities. Professor Bronin delivered the opening keynote, presenting research about local preservation regulation.
JUNE 2022
Lab Receives Grant for National Zoning Atlas
Open Philanthropy has given $312,000 to support the National Zoning Atlas project, enabling an inaugural project director and database developer. Open Philanthropy identifies outstanding giving opportunities, makes grants, follows the results, and publishes its findings. Its mission is to give as effectively as it can and share the findings openly so that anyone can build on them.
MAY 2022
Beyond the Single-Family Home UChicago Keynote
Professor Bronin keynoted a full-day symposium at the University of Chicago’s Mansueto Institute for Urban Innovation. It brought together experts from around the country to some of the biggest challenges facing U.S. cities today, including affordable housing, lack of access to quality transit, and racial segregation.
MAY 2022
Bronin to Keynote Michigan Historic Preservation Network Conference
In a keynote called “Taking Preservation Mainstream,” Professor Bronin addressed the 42nd annual statewide preservation conference. Called "Our Town: Preserving Places Together,” the conference showcased local preservation efforts and reinforced the fact that place-making is not a solo activity.
APRIL 2022
Latinos in Heritage Congreso Convenes National Preservation Leaders
At its biannual Congreso, co-sponsored by History Colorado and Historic Denver, LHC convened national preservation leaders. Professor Bronin contributed to plenary sessions featuring Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar (former Interior Secretary) and Congressman Raúl Grijalva (Chair of the Natural Resources Committee).
March 2022
Watch the Harvard Symposium on Housing
The Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies' “Bringing Digitalization Home: How Can Technology Address Housing Challenges” symposium featured national experts in design, construction, policy, and advocacy. Professor Bronin contributed a commentary in the form of an invitation to create a national zoning atlas.
March 2022
"Should Law Subsidize Driving?" Podcast
Professor Carliss Chatman interviewed Professor Bronin and Professor Greg Shill about their research, including a co-authored piece about a deadly traffic manual and “Rules of the Road: The Struggle for Safety and the Unmet Promise of Federalism.”
March 2022
Is it Time for a National Zoning Atlas?
The pending launch of the National Zoning Atlas is covered in this Strong Towns interview, which covers the history and impact of zoning, and the methodology used to create the Connecticut Zoning Atlas, which is now the basis of an ongoing national effort to collect and analyze zoning information at scale.
March 2022
An Interview with the National Trust for Historic Preservation
For Women’s History Month, Professor Bronin was interviewed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Among other things, she highlighted the work of Latinos in Heritage Conservation, and two unique African-American cultural sites in her hometown of Houston, and she discussed her research.
FEBRUARY 2022
Watch the Paul S. Byard Memorial Lecture at Columbia GSAPP
“Can Preservation Law Evolve in its Second Century?” Drawing from the work of fellow architect-attorney-professor Paul S. Byard, Professor Bronin delivered GSAPP’s first in-person lecture in two years, followed by a moderated discussion with Professor Erica Avrami.
FEBRUARY 2022
Zoning and Historic Places: A University of Maryland Lecture
In the annual Marvin Breckinridge Patterson Lecture, Professor Bronin drew from her experience reforming Hartford’s zoning code to make the case that preservationists should focus their attention to local zoning issues, which affect the viability of designated historic sites in hidden but important ways.
JANUARY 2022
Governing Magazine Covers “Zoning by a Thousand Cuts”
In an article geared toward a policymaking audience, Professor Bronin’s research on zoning featured prominently. It argues that changes in number-of-unit caps must be accompanied by changes in onerous regulations for public hearings, height constraints, and minimum lot sizes.
december 2021
Research on Road Design Cited in Slate Magazine
Professor Bronin’s co-authored article (with Greg Shill), “Rewriting the Nation’s Deadly Traffic Manual” was quoted in Slate Magazine. The article argues that the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, a seemingly straightforward design guide, has significant and little-underwood impacts on our roads’ safety.
october 2021
Bustle Magazine Interviews Professor Bronin on NIMBYism
As founder of the DesegregateCT movement, Professor Bronin talked to Tatiana Walk-Morris about the impact of exclusionary zoning on families. Her “Zoning by a Thousand Cuts” article dives deeply into research in Connecticut about the many ways zoning constrains housing production.
september 2021
The Protection of Tribal Resources Is a Key Priority
In a hearing before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources concerning her nomination to chair the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, Professor Bronin pledged to support tribal preservation efforts, as covered in Native News Online. She has published books and articles covering tribal and cultural issues.
Contact
Sara C. Bronin
Professor, AAP
Associate Faculty, Law
Website | Publications
sara.bronin@cornell.edu
Address
Legal Constructs Lab
129 Sibley Dome
Cornell College of Architecture, Art, & Planning
Ithaca, NY 14853
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