Zones apart

Tampa and St. Petersburg are both successful municipalities, less than an hour's drive from each other and separated physically by a lone body of water, Tampa Bay.

But when it comes to their approach to land use and zoning rules, the two cities might as well be in different time zones.

St. Petersburg, for instance, employs a single-use zoning system, where tracts of properties are designated for specific uses — including residential, office, mixed commercial and alike.