An Assembly committee that has been quietly working on major revisions to Anchorage's zoning code recently took up the question: How much of the front of your house should a garage take up?
Neighborhoods are safer and more attractive if windows and living spaces face the street, the planners say.

I know I like the looks of buildings better if the front isn't completely dominated by a garage door.

The most common rule across the U.S. for garage doors is that they should take up no more than half the width of the front of the house, says a city planner. The planners proposed 55 percent for Anchorage. The Planning and Zoning Commission recommended 62 1/2 percent. Now the Assembly committee appears to be settling at 60 percent.

Right now there are no rules, so any of these decisions will be an improvement.

-- Rosemary Shinohara