Feb 2019 ZoLa Improvements!

We just finished a round of improvements to NYC Planning’s beloved Zoning and Land Use Application (ZoLa). Listed below are the highlights users should be aware of. We’ll do more detailed blog posts on some of these features in the coming month.

Users can now print profiles of tax lots in ZoLa!

• Custom printing options. You can now print nicely formatted profiles of lots! You can also print a map with a legend to use in meetings and presentations. We’ve learned that many people use ZoLa for scrappy GIS mapping purposes, taking screenshots to print for field visits or to insert into powerpoints. This new and improved print functionality allows them to produce more professional, customized materials using ZoLa.
• Faster performance and improved browser compatibility. Many users had complained about the map and lot profiles being slow to load, since ZoLa is such a data-heavy app. To address these performance issues, we implemented several optimizations that have decreased application bundle size by half, lowering the initial load time for users. We also did extensive testing to make sure these upgrades are compatible with desktop browsers in different operating systems. If you’ve had difficulty with loading ZoLa in the past, we’d love for you test it out again and let us know if you can see an improvement.
• Street widths. Previously only available in our Streets app, street width labels are also now available in ZoLa. Teaser: This street width data will also be published as NYC Open Data in March!

Lots profiles now includes a link to HPD’s property resources and a flag is the lot may be subject to waterfront zoning.

• Flag for waterfront blocks. Lots along the waterfront may be subject to Waterfront Zoning. This new indicator on the lot profile links user to additional information to help them understand what rules may apply for a property.
• Link to NYC Housing’s Building, Registration, and Violation system. This allows users to see if there are landlord violations or other tenant related issues associated with a property.
• Streamlined layer interactivity. ZoLa displays 34 different spatial data layers with varying functionality and levels of information (more on that here). Some layers are clickable with individual profiles, while others are more for display purposes. We’ve cleaned up and standardized the interactivity for all these layers, so it’s easier to discern which layers you can click. We’ve also made it easier to click on tax lots, since that’s what most users want to do.

New links in the layer menu make it easier to learn more about types of zoning

• Links to additional zoning resources. Have you ever wondered what a “FRESH” or “Transit” zone is? Now it’s easier to learn about ZoLa’s supporting zoning layers. We’ve included links for most of these zoning categories that take you directly to explanatory material .

Let us know what other improvements you want to see in ZoLa. You can submit a GitHub issue, send an email to ZoLaGIS@planning.nyc.gov, or tweet at @nycplanninglabs.