Do you track local zoning and how do you factor that into you deal analysis?

[Rene Hosman]

Listened to @Dave Meyer's great interview with @James Dainard this week and it's got me thinking about zoning. I've always found zoning fascinating. Personally I have thought buying in mixed use zoning could be an interesting opportunity as you can use it for residential or commercial and having that flexibility of commercial property with 5% down if you live in for a while and it seems like a potentially good idea in some areas. But until James' interview I hadn't thought about proposed zoning changes or tracking those as a kind of cheat code to learn more about what areas to invest in. 

I'm curious if anyone goes to local zoning meetings? Or maybe you read through minutes of local meetings online? 

If you attend these meetings, what do you learn from them? Were you able to take those learnings and put them to use in your investments? Did it change, influence or solidify any of your strategies?

Please share all the details and experiences you've had with zoning meetings / zoning boards / planning commissions! The good, the bad, and the ugly!