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Real Estate & Property Law

Land Use Prof Blog

By Paul Boudreaux

Post Frequency: 9.8/day

Last Entry: April 01, 2011 at 11:17:06

Introducing Hannah Wiseman

Posted on April 01, 2011
It's hard to believe (and terrifying for my 1Ls), but today is April 1. So it's time--no fooling!--to introduce a new guest blogger. We're thrilled to have Hannah Wiseman join us for the month. Professor Wiseman recently joined the faculty...

More on Chinese "Ghost Towns"...

Posted on April 01, 2011
I've blogged in the past about the somewhat stunning cities where no lives in parts of China. This video expands on that and provides an astonishing perspective of land use that isn't being used: Chad Emerson

Iglesias on Fair Housing Remedies and the Two-Person-Per-Bedroom Standard

Posted on March 31, 2011
Tim Iglesias (San Francisco) has posted Moving Beyond the Two-Person-Per-Bedroom: Revitalizing Application of the Federal Fair Housing Act to Private Residential Occupancy Standards. Here's the abstract: New empirical evidence demonstrates that the common residential occupancy standard of two-persons-per-bedroom substantially limits...

Boston's Parks Dep't Releases Sustainable Design Guidelines

Posted on March 31, 2011
Boston's Parks and Recreation Department has released a new set of "sustainable" design guidelines. Unfortunately, the entire report is not on-line, but you can view the Conclusions and Recommendations. I thought it was interesting that the Dep't used "sustainable," instead...

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NYT Dialogue on Shrinking Cities

Posted on March 30, 2011
The latest census figures from Detroit (Chad's hometown blogged about here and here) have inspired the New York Times to solicit opinions from several urban planning experts about the way forward for post-industrial cities confronted with large-scale property abandonment...

Update...

Posted on March 30, 2011
Well, its been another busy several weeks. This fall, I'll be taking a leave of absence from the law school to serve as the City of Montgomery's inauguaral Director of Development. If you're interested, you can read details here. Then,...

Yoga and Water

Posted on March 29, 2011
Those of you who follow this blog closely might have noticed that, in addition to land use law, I have an interest in contemplative practices such as yoga and meditation. Very occasionally, those two interests overlap. This month, Yoga Journal...

Martinez on Judicial Takings for Private Necessity

Posted on March 29, 2011
John Martinez (Utah) has posted No More Free Easements: Judicial Takings for Private Necessity. The abstract: This article bridges the fields of constitutional judicial takings and the common law of easements that arise because of private necessity. The article suggests...

Erbsen on Constitutional Spaces

Posted on March 29, 2011
Allan Erbsen (Minnesota) has posted Constitutional Spaces, Minnesota Law Review, vol. 95 (2011). The abstract: This Article is the first to systematically consider the Constitution?s identification, definition, and integration of the physical spaces in which it applies...

Caribbean Spring Break

Posted on March 28, 2011
I was incredibly fortunate to spend my Spring Break in Turks & Caicos (TCI), a small chain of Carribean islands near Hispanola (the island shared by the Dominican Republic and Haiti). Vacations like these are always interesting from a land...

Carribean Spring Break

Top 10 Land Use/Planning Websites

Posted on March 28, 2011
Planetizen.com has named its top 10 planning, design, and development websites of 2011. The list, which can be found here, includes www.dirt.asla.org (The Dirt) and www.codesproject.asu.edu (The Codes Project). If you like zoning codes, The Codes Project is for you...

Lind on Public Nuisance Law and Bank Foreclosures

Posted on March 27, 2011
This blog has had the good fortune to feature the amazing work of Cleveland-Marshall's Urban Development Law Clinic (here and here, too) as well as dispatches from the front lines of the foreclosure fallout in Cleveland's neighborhoods from the Clinic's...

Klass on the Public Trust Doctrine and the Siting of Wind and Solar Projects

Posted on March 25, 2011
Alexandra Klass (Minnesota) has posted Renewable Energy and the Public Trust Doctrine, 44 UC Davis L. Rev. __ (forthcoming 2011). Here's the abstract: This Article explores the role of the public trust doctrine in current efforts to site large-scale wind...

More on Maps and NYC's grid turns 200.

Posted on March 25, 2011
Thanks to Jim's posting on Sanborn maps I started poking around at old maps and found a well-executed program in which The New York Times superimposes John Randel's 1811 proposed grid of Manhattan (200 years old), with an 1836 map...

The Disappearing Detroit...

Posted on March 24, 2011
I've posted several times on the plight of my hometown Detroit, but this NYT article really summarizes the challenges in a stark way: Laying bare the country?s most startling example of modern urban collapse, census data on Tuesday showed that...

Sanborn Maps in the Classroom

Posted on March 24, 2011
Well, before you know it, I'll be reaching the Zoning segment of Property this semester. Jon's wonderful visual in his Glass House disaster post put me in mind of the digitized Sanborn maps I used to teach environmental due diligence...

Foster on Collective Action and the Urban Commons

Posted on March 23, 2011
Sheila Foster (Fordham) has just posted, Collective Action and the Urban Commons, 87 Notre Dame L. Rev. ___ (forthcoming 2011), another interesting and important article on community control of land resources in the urban context. Here's the abstract: Urban residents...

"The Glass House Disaster"

Posted on March 23, 2011
Brownstoner.com has posted its third and final instalment describing the May 5, 1885 Glass House Disaster fire in Brooklyn, New York. The 1886 zoning map below shows the missing buildings from Block 40 where the fire occurred. The article partially...

Smith and Bailey on Restrictive Zoning for Adult Uses/Sexually Oriented Businesses

Posted on March 22, 2011
George Smith (Catholic) and Gregory Bailey have posted Regulating Morality through the Common Law and Exclusionary Zoning, 60 Catholic L. Rev. 403 (2011). Here's the abstract: The extent to which a free society seeks to regulate sexual expression is problematic...

More on Urban Chickens

Posted on March 22, 2011
Following up on Matt's blog post last week on urban chickens, and on my previous post, today I found this remarkably detailed article in the Athens-Banner Herald on cities near Athens considering lifting their ban on chickens in residential areas....

Sup. Ct. Will Not Review Warrantless Search of Wetlands

Posted on March 22, 2011
Yesterday, the Supreme Court refused to hear a NJ couple's challenge of a fine and restoration order for filling wetlands in their backyard. The wetland violation was found when a NJ Department of Environmental Protection (?DEP?) agent inspected the property...

"27 amazing statistics about the real estate market"

Posted on March 22, 2011
April Charney, Senior Attorney in Jacksonville Legal Aid's Consumer Unit and foreclosure attorney extraordinaire, has posted an article containing 27 statistics about the real estate crash on "DIRT - Real Estate Lawyers Listserv." Some highlights: "The number of new building...

Brescia on State Enforcement Actions and the Robo-Sign Scandal

Posted on March 21, 2011
Raymond H. Brescia (Albany) has posted Leverage: State Enforcement Actions in the Wake of the Robo-Sign Scandal. The abstract: In the fall of 2010, in one of the largest scandals to ever hit the American court system, information gathered from...

Hirokawa on Disasters and Ecosystem Services Deprivation

Posted on March 21, 2011
Keith H. Hirokawa (Albany) has posted Disasters and Ecosystem Services Deprivation: From Cuyahoga to the Deepwater Horizon, Albany Law Review, Vol. 74, No. 1 (2011). The abstract: On April 20, 2010, an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig resulted...

Oliner, Nichols, & Mulhall on Commercial and Residential Land Prices across the U.S.

Posted on March 19, 2011
Stephen D. Oliner (Federal Reserve Board--Research & Statistics), Joseph Nichols (Federal Reserve Board) and Michael R. Mulhall have posted Commercial and Residential Land Prices Across the United States. The abstract: We use a national dataset of land sales to construct...

Echeverria on Public Takings of Private Contracts

Posted on March 18, 2011
John D. Echeverria (Vermont) has posted Public Takings of Private Contracts, forthcoming in the Ecology Law Quarterly (2011). The abstract: This article, part of a larger project analyzing how far public and private contracting arrangements can go in constraining democratic...

Bright on Occupation Rents and TLATA

Posted on March 18, 2011
Susan Bright (Oxford) has posted Occupation Rents and TLATA: From Property to Welfare?, Conveyancer, Vol. 73, No. 378, 2011. The abstract: This article considers what changes have been made in relation to occupation rents following the enactment of the Trusts...

Osofsky on Diagonal Federalism and Climate Change

Posted on March 18, 2011
Hari M. Osofsky (Minnesota) has posted Diagonal Federalism and Climate Change: Implications for the Obama Administration, Alabama Law Review, vol. 62 (2011). The abstract: The Obama Administration?s efforts on climate change continue to face daunting challenges domestically and internationally...

The Short Leg of the Stool

Posted on March 18, 2011
A three-legged stool is often used as a metaphor for sustainability. Although the legs are described in a variety of ways, they are generally some derivation of: environmental friendliness, economic vitality, and social responsibility. For the last several months, I've...

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