Nuisance cases continue to come before the American courts in great numbers. The spread of comprehensive zoning into many places over the country has accelerated, not diminished, the tendency to turn to the courts for protection against discordant land uses. Compare 164 pages devoted to private and public nuisance cases in the Decennial Digest for the period 1936-46 with 72 pages for the 1926-36 period and 61 pages for 1916-26. Apparently our people more and more expect zoning protection against disturbing land uses. If the legislative arm has failed to provide it, they freely turn to the courts for protection through the application of nuisance doctrine.
This paper analyzes a substantial number' of modern nuisance cases, not in doctrinal terms, but in terms of the extent to which the courts are meeting these demands for land use protection in unzoned areas. In addition it summarizes from modern cases points of contact between nuisance doctrine and zoning law.
