All Animals, Er, Atlantans, Are Equal

The Atlanta City council is considering a measure that would require new homes to be of a similar size to any existing homes nearby. And not just in overall floor space. "A two-story home, with an attic, for example, may pass the zoning test, but it might look out of place in the middle of a block of ranch houses," notes the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "A house with a huge back yard could be within the required limits for lot coverage yet still dwarf its neighbors when viewed from the street." Engineers at Georgia Tech are trying to devise mathematical formulas to cover all such possibilities and make sure all homes in a neighborhood are similar.