Housing

City Fog

Asthma and Planning

Re-evaluating the role of planning in creating, and reversing, disturbing public health outcomes, like asthma rates among African-Americans in Philadelphia.

May 21, 2019 - Next City

Pruitt-Igoe

More Cities and Counties Arming Renters Against Source of Income Discrimination

St. Louis County is considering fair housing legislation that would prevent source of income discrimination, as many cities in the region have already done, and many more are also considering.

May 21, 2019 - St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Sprawl

The Wonderful World of Vicious Circles

Government's pro-sprawl and anti-density policies often create problems that justify more of the same.

May 20, 2019 - Michael Lewyn

Homeless Cars

Ban on Living and Sleeping in Vehicles Approved in San Diego

A recently reinstated ordinance prohibits people from living out of their cars. The city says it wants to people to use "safe parking lots" where other services are available.

May 20, 2019 - CBS News 8 (San Diego)

The Netherlands

'Fairbnb' Attempts to Right the Wrongs of Short-Term Rentals

A new attempt at mitigating the social impact of short-term rentals and mass tourism.

May 20, 2019 - CityLab

Fair Park, Dallas

No Region Approves and Builds Apartments Like Dallas-Forth Worth

Apartments are abundant in the development pipeline of the Dallas-Forth Worth region—not just in the urban core, but in suburbs like Frisco, Carrollton, and Farmers Branch.

May 19, 2019 - The Dallas Morning News

Horse Farm

Support for Shrinking the Nation's Oldest Growth Boundary

Lexington, Kentucky's growth boundary survived a comprehensive plan update in 2019, after years of controversy. A housing crisis, a growing city, and a broken land use system are rearranging the political arithmetic behind the greenbelt.

May 18, 2019 - CityLab

Interstate 4 - Florida

Environmentalists Urge Gov. Ron DeSantis to Veto Florida Toll Roads Bill

Florida has the distinction of having more toll roads than any other state. Environmentalists want Gov. DeSantis (R) to veto a bill that would build three new ones, adding over three hundred miles of asphalt through mostly rural, unpopulated areas.

May 17, 2019 - South Florida Sun Sentinel

Public Housing

The Potential Costs of the Trump Administration's Proposed Cuts to HUD Funding

Housing advocates blame the neglect of the federal government on the state of public housing in the United States. The Trump administration says government can't keep throwing money at the problems of public housing.

May 17, 2019 - NPR

Seattle Apartments

Choosing Incentives Over Mandates for Minimum Urban Densities

Washington's House Bill 1923 is one of a number of bills under consideration this year on the West Coast that attempts to leverage the power of the state for the sake of new development.

May 17, 2019 - The Urbanist

California

Breaking News: California's Transit Oriented Upzoning Bill Stuck in Limbo

Senate Bill 50, the closely watched upzoning bill proposed by State Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), made it a lot further through the Legislature than the prior attempt, SB 827. Still, SB 50 will short of the finish line in 2019.

May 16, 2019 - Curbed San Francisco

Suburban House

Watch: Exclusionary Zoning's Affordability Effect, Explained

According to the Sightline Institute, exclusionary zoning is responsible for the nation's ongoing housing affordability crisis.

May 16, 2019 - Sightline Institute via YouTube

Cherry Creek

'Right to Survive' Homeless Initiative Fails With Denver Voters

Denver's "Right to Survive" initiative highlights just how troubling and problematic policy approaches to homelessness can be.

May 15, 2019 - Governing

San Jose, California

Revisiting a Pre-Recession Plan to Transform North San Jose

San Jose wants to remake the North San Jose neighborhood as "Uptown San Jose," but the amount of development that will require isn't proving an easy sell with some locals.

May 14, 2019 - The Mercury News

Miami

Report Digs Into the Unique Needs of the Miami Housing Market

Miami doesn’t get as much attention as cities like New York City and San Francisco for the cost of housing, but 61 percent of renters in the city are cost-burdened, and 71 percent of the city's residents are residents.

May 13, 2019 - Smart Cities Dive

Potted Plants

First Tiny Home Neighborhood Planned in Georgia

Eight homes, varying in size from 250 square feet to 500 square feet have been approved in an Atlanta suburb.

May 13, 2019 - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Austin Construction

New Density Bonus Approved in Austin

The city of Austin is using density bonus as an incentive for developers to include affordable housing in new developments.

May 11, 2019 - Austin Monitor

Arizona

'Green' Houses Come Up Well Short in Phoenix

City inspectors and federal regulators will not be favorably portrayed in this story.

May 11, 2019 - Phoenix New Times

Urban Revitalization

Affordable Housing Funding Reaches New Heights for Beltline Neighborhoods

The city of Atlanta has allocated $11.9 million of its $45 million budget for the Beltline for affordable housing.

May 11, 2019 - Curbed Atlanta

Portland skyline from the Benson Hotel

SROs Are Getting People Off the Streets in Portland

Single-room-occupancy hotels are providing much-needed affordable housing for the city’s most vulnerable residents.

May 10, 2019 - Oregon Live

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.

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.