I would guess that it's more about antiquated attitudes about how cities should be centrally-planned and heavily segregated by use. Some zoning control is necessary to keep chemical plants and steel refineries from blowing up in your backyard, but the notion that there needs to be clear delineation between "office use," EG clerking, and restaurant/bar use is why central business districts are all crime-ridden dead zones after about 7 pm. And it's also why there are traffic jams between 11am and 1 pm where I live.
Seeing "office use" be more tightly restricted than general commercial use still seems strange to me.
I can understand restricting retail use in areas otherwise zoned commercial if the area can't support traffic from, or doesn't have enough amenities for, the general public.
But what impact would an office have on a neighborhood that a restaurant wouldn't?
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I would guess that it's more about antiquated attitudes about how cities should be centrally-planned and heavily segregated by use. Some zoning control is necessary to keep chemical plants and steel refineries from blowing up in your backyard, but the notion that there needs to be clear delineation between "office use," EG clerking, and restaurant/bar use is why central business districts are all crime-ridden dead zones after about 7 pm. And it's also why there are traffic jams between 11am and 1 pm where I live.
Seeing "office use" be more tightly restricted than general commercial use still seems strange to me.
I can understand restricting retail use in areas otherwise zoned commercial if the area can't support traffic from, or doesn't have enough amenities for, the general public.
But what impact would an office have on a neighborhood that a restaurant wouldn't?