March Must-Reads: Top 10 Articles From Last Month

The housing crisis, at its various scales, took center stage for Planetizen readers last month: While Florida could legalize ADUs statewide, San Diego is reining in its rules, which allowed developers to build multi-story, multi-unit buildings that some residents said were not the intended result of the law. Meanwhile, a crucial source of affordable housing, mobile home parks, is losing ground to investors. HUD announced a plan to explore housing development on federal lands, though many of these are far from the urban centers where housing is most sorely needed, and California’s shelter system reveals major gaps in service and safety. Chicago-area transit leaders warn that without additional funding, their agencies could face severe cuts, kneecapping the regional economy. And Volkswagen brings a new look to the van that defined the hippie era with the electric re-release of its iconic VW bus.

The full list of March’s most-read stories:

1. Florida Considers Legalizing ADUs

A proposed Florida law would bar municipalities from restricting ADUs in single-family-zoned neighborhoods.

2. Manufactured Crisis: Losing the Nation’s Largest Source of Unsubsidized Affordable Housing 

An article in Shelterforce explains how manufactured housing, once a key source of affordable housing, is becoming a profit-driven sector that threatens the livelihood of many low-income Americans.

3. San Diego to Rescind Multi-Unit ADU Rule

Newly passed ADU regulations opened the door for what some residents called ‘granny towers.’ Now, the city wants to rein them in.

4. Trump Administration Unfreezes Pennsylvania Climate Funding Amidst Lawsuits 

Pennsylvania will receive over $2 billion in previously frozen federal funds for abandoned mine remediation due to an ongoing lawsuit filed by Governor Josh Shapiro.

5. Has President Trump Met His Match? 

Ontario Premier Doug Ford isn’t backing down from President Trump’s tariff war with Canada.

6. HUD Announces Plan to Build Housing on Public Lands 

The administration wants to build housing on federally owned lands, but housing advocates argue that the focus should be on urbanized areas where the need for affordable housing is greatest.

7. Chicago Transit Agencies on Brink of Major Crisis  

Chicagoland transit riders could experience service cuts of 40 percent without additional funding from state and regional sources.

8. Investigation Reveals Just How Badly California’s Homeless Shelters are Failing 

An in-depth investigation of California shelters found them rife with violence, neglect, and unhealthy conditions.

9. Planning Trends for 2025: Creative Housing Solutions, Ongoing Transit Woes, and the Ever-Creeping Tentacles of AI 

No one can pretend to know what 2025 will hold, but we did our best to round up the most impactful movements in the planning world.

10. The VW Bus is Back — Now as an Electric Minivan 

The iconic hippie mobile looks — and sounds — a little different.