Across the country, community organizations are looking to better understand how zoning shapes health, housing, and access to opportunity. Through the ZEST program, participants strengthened their ability to communicate complex land-use issues and connect them to everyday community concerns.

Throughout the fall and winter of 2025, Smart Growth America’s Center for Zoning Solutions supported 19 community-based organizations (CBOs) across the country through the Zoning for Equitable Solutions and Thriving Communities (ZEST) program. Together, they strengthened each organization’s ability to connect land use and health outcomes, identify zoning barriers, and translate complex policies into practical, community-driven strategies.

Zoning is a powerful driver of health outcomes, shaping nearly every aspect of daily life—from housing and transportation to our environmental exposure and access to opportunity—in both visible and invisible ways. Over six months, Smart Growth America delivered tailored technical assistance spanning policy analysis, data analysis, ArcGIS StoryMaps, and education and advocacy tools, building participants’ capacity to turn complex zoning systems into actionable strategies for creating healthier communities.

A key takeaway from this work was the power of storytelling as an essential tool for translating complex issues into relatable, actionable narratives. This blog series builds on those lessons, highlighting real-world examples, tools, and insights to support others navigating zoning challenges and advancing reform in their own communities.

Introducing our partners

Several organizations joined ZEST to better understand zoning and support their work in areas outside traditional planning. For example, Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah (HEAL Utah) works to “protect Utah’s environment and its people by promoting clean air, clean energy, and comprehensive solutions to radioactive and toxic waste.” Through its policy advocacy program, Joining Forces for Affordable Housing, Connections for the Homeless organizes and mobilizes neighbors to advocate for equitable residential zoning that increases affordable housing while reducing displacement in northern Cook and Lake counties, IL. And in rural South Carolina, Organized Uplifting Resources & Strategies (OURS) works to “reclaim, revitalize, and sustain rural communities.” Whether addressing environmental health, housing instability, or rural community development, these organizations recognized that land-use policies are shaping outcomes, even though zoning is not their primary focus.

Barriers they face

For many participants, the challenge is not just navigating zoning systems, but explaining them to community members and partners. Zoning processes are often technical, opaque, and difficult to engage with, making it hard to know when and how to get involved in decision-making.

At the same time, clearly communicating the consequences of zoning is a barrier in itself. The connections between land use and outcomes in housing affordability, public health, and transportation access can be indirect and difficult to visualize, making it harder to build awareness and generate momentum for change.

“This is helping a lot in figuring out the visioning piece to the puzzle on rezoning.”

Support from SGA

To address these challenges, SGA delivered support to strengthen technical knowledge and communication capacity. This work included accessible resources explaining key zoning, land-use, and housing concepts, such as Euclidean zoning, development standards, and missing-middle housing.  SGA also provided guidance on data sources and metrics that effectively demonstrate zoning impacts for advocacy efforts. HEAL Utah received support with identifying tools specifically focused on tracking environmental and health outcomes, while OURS received guidance on rural zoning processes and reform pathways tailored to McCormick County, SC. For Connections for the Homeless, SGA curated communications and messaging resources to support engagement on local housing and land-use issues. 

Connecting zoning to community health

Across the cohort, organizations reinforced that “demystifying” zoning is critical to advancing health equity. Making zoning understandable requires engaging a wide range of perspectives—skeptical elected officials, outspoken neighbors, and other community members—who care but don’t have enough time to get involved.

This requires clearly connecting land-use decisions to everyday health outcomes. Having more transportation options can reduce automobile dependence and improve air quality; better connectivity and walkable neighborhoods can increase physical activity and reduce cardiovascular disease; and building housing near daily needs can lower transportation costs and reduce financial stress and anxiety.

Providing clear, accessible language to communicate these connections is the first step toward creating meaningful change. When communities understand how zoning shapes their daily lives, they are better equipped to advocate, advance, and ultimately achieve better health outcomes.