Exclusionary Zoning in the Suburbs: The Road from Mount Laurel to Chester

Opponents of exclusionary zoning thought that a legal revolution was underway in 1975 when the highest courts in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania all ruled against municipalities that engaged in exclusionary practices. But the revolution never materialized and, a decade later, only New Jersey remained fully committed to battling exclusionary land-use practices. In the past few years, however, state and federal courts have announced new approaches to combat exclusionary zoning that may prove more effective than those of the past.