C. Aesthetic Zoning

There are many ways to attempt to control residents’ ways of life. Recall that single-family homes were promoted as ways to shape personhood and citizenship as compared to apartments; the general idea of shaping our character by controlling our buildings is the same even if the mechanisms change. Many traditionally zoned areas have adopted aesthetic regulations. Typically, a city will pass an ordinance setting up an Architectural Board to approve plans for buildings. This was the case in Ladue, Missouri. It is perhaps notable that, despite the demographic uniformity of Ladue’s residents, they are still very interested in controlling each other’s property-related behavior through law rather than merely through social norms.