RHODE ISLAND Zoning Atlas

HousingWorks RI, a community partner of Roger Williams University, completed the Rhode Island Zoning Atlas in 2023. Advisors included faculty and staff from Roger Williams University, and several state partners. Click here for the team’s independent atlas and additional context.

  • Click here to view the independent Rhode Island Atlas.

    HousingWorks RI’s foray into understanding Rhode Island municipal residential zoning, most recently enhanced by GIS mapping, began in 2018. In its efforts to better understand municipal potential for residential development, HousingWorks RI has examined municipal comprehensive plans and zoning codes to align what is proposed in plans to what has been passed by ordinance. Taking it a step further, this year HWRI has engaged in GIS mapping of zoning for single family, two-family, multifamily, and mixed-use development, as well as the state’s low- and moderate-income housing, public infrastructure, and transit routes. This work to-date has been informed by HWRI’s analysis of the methodologies used by Desegregate CT and Massachusetts Housing Partnership’s Transit Oriented Development Explorer. 

    HWRI envisions a Rhode Island in which communities embrace a variety of housing choices so that residents, regardless of income, can live in healthy, quality homes in vibrant and thriving neighborhoods. In its research, HWRI is seeking to discover where municipalities may be able to achieve more diversity of housing types to accommodate a growing need for smaller homes for our older adult population, modest homes for those of low to moderate incomes, along with the variety of homes needed to meet the needs of a wide range of household types—from young adults and workers to those who seek to relocate here.  For the last several years, HWRI has used a regional lens to examine how this may be achieved in a manner in keeping with the principles of Land Use 2025 while also not further exacerbating our state’s racial, ethnic, and economic segregated housing patterns. 

    HWRI has assembled a variety of resources that aim at expanding public information about these issues:

    • The 2023 Housing Fact Book is an annual publication presented by HousingWorks RI at Roger Williams University that outlines housing affordability data for Rhode Island's 39 municipalities.

    • Infographics provide a snapshot of quantitative data of specific topics that lend themselves to being presented graphically.

    • Issue briefs are generally four to eight page publications that provide an overview of a particular topic of interest.

    • Special reports, including research on transit-oriented development and the economic impact of affordable housing, cover a longer treatment, are an outgrowth of a research study, or are of a prolonged nature.

  • Director: Annette Bourne

    Project Manager: Bryce Kelley

    Advisory Committee:
    Benny Bergantino, Rhode Island Division of Statewide Planning 
    Jessica Cigna, Office of RI Secretary of State 
    Brian DeChambeau, RIHousing
    Deborah Flannery, RI Department of Housing 
    Richard Godfrey, Cummings Institute for Real Estate, Roger Williams University 
    Sarah Ingle, RIPTA 
    Susan Mara, American Planning Association, RI Chapter 
    Ginette Wessel, Cummings Institute for Real Estate, Roger Williams University 

    Project Alumni: Christopher Chutz