Does industrial zoning have a place in the modern mixed-use city?

[pvande55]

Many cities would disagree. City of Chicago came up with an incentive plan for a steel plant to stay. Obviously not in the central core. And an auto assembly plant thrives on the Southeast side. If I am not mistaken zoning laws were initially enacted to prevent industry from locating next to residential areas.

[wburg]

And that's still the general idea--the difference is that, due to changes in technology and environmental regulation, most industries aren't nearly as noxious to the neighbors as they once were. So while some industries should still probably keep their distance (coal mines, nuclear power plants, etc) many are a lot better neighbors than back when every industrial building had a coal-fired steam plant to power their machinery, instead of being hooked up to an electric power grid.

[memph]

I would add that most industries that deal with metals and chemicals (ex steel mills and refineries) are pretty noxious, but otherwise they're mostly alright.

There's a sugar refinery in Toronto that's right next to an urban beach and media headquarter, and has a large condo project under construction on the other side.
You can take in the sweet smell from the beach while watching the big ships unload their cargo.

There's a few sites of contention in Toronto though. There's a new lakefront condo community growing in a former suburb West of downtown and most of the remaining land is currently being developed, leaving only a large Mr Christie cookie factory. There's also a Cadbury factory that's opposed to the rezoning of some nearby industrial land to allow residential development since they're worried the new residents will complain about their industrial activities. The Port Lands are a huge industrial area that's set to be redeveloped, although there isn't a whole lot of industry there now. If there was more substantial industry I would be opposed to the redevelopment of the area. There's also a large meat packing (slaughterhouse too?) plant very close to downtown with a lot of new condo development nearby... that's one case where I don't think the industrial activity is well suited for the area.

Generally though, I think industrial uses have a place in cities. They don't make use of the land as well (generally) as midrises/highrises, so they might not make sense right downtown, but I think it would be good if the less noxious industries would be located in walkable areas, especially next to harbours and railways.

[wburg]

There was a cookie and baked goods factory in my old neighborhood--when it was in operation we'd describe it as "the cookie tree is in bloom!" Having an "outlet" store that sold huge bags of factory-seconds pastries and donuts for $1 was a mixed blessing...delicious, but I lost a few pounds almost immediately after moving to a different neighborhood!

[BajanYankee]

Originally Posted by eschaton

That said, I find this aspect of the modern city disturbing. It seems the logical conclusion is the modern city, unlike the 19th century sort, will only be convenient to white-collar workers, who can easily walk, or take a train, to their own place of work in a central business district or university area. The remaining blue collar will have to drive, and presumably eventually relocate to the suburbs entirely for better convenience to their place of work.

That's not necessarily true. The HVAC guys who work in the federal courthouse commute to the same place as the federal judges and prosecutors. The mailroom guys commute to the same building as Wall Street CEOs. Construction workers, UPS/FedEx drivers, and hairstylists will often work in the same area as their more highly-paid white collar counterparts.

By and large, I don't think it's a good idea to have industrial uses in highly-populated areas.