President Obama can rightfully claim that many of the initiatives his administration pushed through in his first years in office helped reverse the acute economic slide he inherited. His efforts to cleanup the housing crash were far less successful.
Binyamin Appelbaum looks at how the Obama administration's effort to "finesse the cleanup of the housing crash", while using blunt instruments to aid the auto and financial industries, resulted in a program "that failed to meet even its own modest goals."
With the housing market finally beginning to recover, after dragging down the recovery and threatening Obama's reelection bid, some are wondering what might have been if the administration's housing response had been designed and implemented differently.
"They were not aggressive in taking the steps that could have been taken," said Representative Zoe Lofgren,
chairwoman of the California Democratic caucus. "And as a consequence
they did not interrupt the catastrophic spiral downward in our economy."
According to Appelbaum, "some economists and political allies say the cautious response to the
housing crisis was the administration's most significant mistake."
Despite the 20/20 hand-wringing, Appelbaum says "it is impossible to know whether a more forceful response would have
produced better results. Administration officials argue that the missed
opportunity was relatively small because mortgage companies were
unprepared to help homeowners even if the government had pushed harder -
and the government was unprepared to take the companies' place."
Nevertheless, Appelbaum traces the missed opportunities that could have triggered a more robust housing rebound than the one we have today.
FULL STORY: Cautious Moves on Foreclosures Haunting Obama

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly
Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

In Urban Planning, AI Prompting Could be the New Design Thinking
Creativity has long been key to great urban design. What if we see AI as our new creative partner?

Portland Raises Parking Fees to Pay for Street Maintenance
The city is struggling to bridge a massive budget gap at the Bureau of Transportation, which largely depleted its reserves during the Civd-19 pandemic.

Spokane Mayor Introduces Housing Reforms Package
Mayor Lisa Brown’s proposals include deferring or waiving some development fees to encourage more affordable housing development.

Houston Mayor Kills Another Bike Lane
The mayor rejected a proposed bike lane in the Montrose district in keeping with his pledge to maintain car lanes.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Gallatin County Department of Planning & Community Development
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
JM Goldson LLC
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Jefferson Parish Government
Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Claremont