> Many municipalities imposed detailed parking requirements for every type of land use. In Los Angeles, for instance, churches must include one spot for every five seats in the pews. Hospitals must have two per bed.

Zoning requirements are why so many businesses are "a box in a parking lot". When you see a sign in a restaurant that says "Maximum Occupancy X" - that occupancy limit is set by how many parking spaces they have.

"Vertical zoning" is the term used to describe zoning that changes based on height. In "older" cities, you can see photos where the ground floor is a store and the upper floors could be residences. That was killed off in the 50s.

Denver came up with an urban zoning called "Main Street" (now called "C-MS" & "E-MS") which is intended to be pedestrian-friendly [0]. The main page for the zoning code is [1].

0 - https://www.denvergov.org/files/assets/public/community-plan...

1 - https://www.denvergov.org/Government/Agencies-Departments-Of...