In municipalities on the urban fringe in the United States, large-lot zoning is commonly thought of as a rural preservation tool. It could preserve rural landscapes by making residential lots too expensive for most homebuyers; or it could simply lead to estates that resemble farms or retain...

Local governments in the United States use a wide range of tools to preserve rural landscapes. Some of these tools, like the purchase or transfer of development rights, are generally welcomed by farmers and other large landowners. Other tools, like increasing the minimum lot size in a town’s...

In rapidly suburbanizing areas, minimum lot sizes of ten acres or greater are often used to discourage residential development and to maintain agricultural critical mass. Because of significant development pressure in these places, there is a good chance these lot size regulations will bind....