AICP General 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A city is experiencing rapid gentrification. Which planning strategy most directly addresses displacement of long-term low-income residents?
- Upzoning the entire city
- Community Land Trusts that permanently affordable housing outside the speculative market (Correct answer)
- Increasing parking minimums to reduce density
- Designating the area as a historic district
Correct answer: Community Land Trusts that permanently affordable housing outside the speculative market
Community Land Trusts remove land from the speculative market by holding it in trust, ensuring homes remain permanently affordable and preventing displacement.
Question 2: The 'Tiebout model' in urban economics suggests that:
- Zoning should be determined by market forces alone
- Households 'vote with their feet' by choosing jurisdictions offering their preferred bundle of public services and taxes (Correct answer)
- Regional equity requires uniform tax rates across municipalities
- Land value is determined primarily by transportation access
Correct answer: Households 'vote with their feet' by choosing jurisdictions offering their preferred bundle of public services and taxes
Charles Tiebout's 1956 model proposed that competition among local governments for mobile residents produces efficient provision of public goods, analogous to consumer choice.
Question 3: Under the Fair Housing Act, a landlord who refuses to rent to a family with children (except in qualifying senior housing) is engaging in discrimination based on:
- Race
- National origin
- Familial status (Correct answer)
- Source of income
Correct answer: Familial status
The Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 added familial status as a protected class, prohibiting discrimination against families with children under 18.
Question 4: Which planning tool allows a municipality to capture the increase in land value created by a public infrastructure investment and use it to finance that investment?
- Special assessment district
- Tax increment financing (TIF) (Correct answer)
- Development impact fee
- General obligation bond
Correct answer: Tax increment financing (TIF)
TIF freezes the tax base at a baseline and dedicates incremental tax revenue from rising property values (spurred by public investment) to repay infrastructure bonds.
Question 5: A 'pattern book' in urban design is used primarily to:
- Document historical land use decisions
- Provide illustrated design guidelines for building forms, materials, and streetscape standards (Correct answer)
- Catalog zoning violations in a neighborhood
- Map existing utility infrastructure
Correct answer: Provide illustrated design guidelines for building forms, materials, and streetscape standards
Pattern books provide illustrated guidance on architectural character, site design, and streetscape elements to ensure new construction fits the established or desired neighborhood context.
Question 6: Which of the following best describes the 'job-housing balance' concept?
- Equal wages between planning jobs and housing inspector positions
- The ratio of employment opportunities to housing units in a given area, used to reduce commuting (Correct answer)
- The requirement that affordable housing be located near employment centers
- A zoning category combining live-work units
Correct answer: The ratio of employment opportunities to housing units in a given area, used to reduce commuting
Job-housing balance refers to the geographic alignment of employment and housing supply to reduce vehicle miles traveled, commute times, and regional congestion.
Question 7: The 'pyramid' or Euclidean zoning hierarchy traditionally places which use at the top (most restricted zone) where all uses below are excluded?
- Commercial retail
- Light industrial
- Single-family residential (Correct answer)
- Mixed-use
Correct answer: Single-family residential
Traditional Euclidean zoning uses a cumulative hierarchy where single-family residential is the 'highest' use, and lower zones (commercial, industrial) are excluded from it but accumulate lower-ranking uses.
AICP General 4
A city is experiencing rapid gentrification.
Which planning strategy most directly addresses displacement of long-term low-income residents?