Introduction to the Zoning Atlas
Originally identified as one of the top ten "Most Wanted Datasets" in MetroFuture: Making a Greater Boston Region, the MAPC Zoning Atlas is a data product nine years in the making. It is the first regional zoning map since 1999, and the first to include information about multifamily housing, residential density, commercial density, and overlay districts.
Introduction to the Zoning Atlas is the first research brief to come from this massive undertaking. It outlines the processes and challenges of collecting and synthesizing 101 municipal zoning codes into one unified resource. Zoning codes can be remarkably complex, and discrepancies in their storage, maintenance, accessibility, and interpretation make creating a regional overview both difficult and necessary to achieve.
The Zoning Atlas will always be a work in progress, and it will rely on municipal collaboration and community input in order to best serve its purpose. As it continues to grow and develop, we hope it will be useful to municipal staff, researchers, and advocates in their work to build a better Greater Boston.
Introduction to the Zoning Atlas
Explore Related Reports & Publications
The State of Zoning for Multi-Family Housing in Greater Boston
Crowded In and Priced Out: Why It's so Hard to Find a Family-Sized Unit in Greater Boston
MetroCommon 2050 Draft Action Area Brief: Homes for Everyone
Find and Download Data on Housing in the Region
DataCommon
The Metro Boston DataCommon a resource for everyone seeking to understand their communities. It provides a trove of information about a wide array of topics. It takes census numbers and other datasets and reformats it in a way that makes it easy to see town-by-town statistics.
Housing Production Plans
In Massachusetts, Housing Production Plans (HPPs) are plans that help municipalities better understand local housing need and demand, development constraints and opportunities, and their vision for future Affordable Housing and sometimes market-rate housing.
MassBuilds
MassBuilds is a visual database of development in the Greater Boston region. To make the database as accurate as possible, MAPC relies on municipal records, municipal data stewards who edit and add development data quarterly, news articles, development websites, and suggestions from the public.
A new age of transit orientated development is underway in Metropolitan Boston. Tstation.info has demographic, economic, transportation, and development information for over 300 existing and planned MBTA transit station areas. Compare stations across the region, or find development opportunities.