Housing

Social Justice

Black Homeownership Climbed in 2019

Black homeownership climbed in 2019, but still lags far behind homeownership rates for the entire country.

February 6, 2020 - Urban Institute

Bed Stuy in the snow

New Research Sheds Light on How Housing Filters Through the Market

The idea of filtering is key to pro-housing-development arguments of the benefits of market-rate housing to the affordability of housing. New research finds that filtering is highly variable depending on location.

February 6, 2020 - Social Science Research Network (SSRN)

Candlestick Point-Hunters Point Bayview

S.F. Bay Area Megaprojects Not Coming to Fruition

Plans for numerous large-scale developments in the region mean thousands of housing units should be on the way, but constant delays and setbacks have left projects nowhere near completion.

February 5, 2020 - San Francisco Chronicle

Housing

Exhibition Aims to Change Minds About Density

"Everything You Think You Know About Housing Is Probably Wrong," reads the headline of this New York Times article.

February 5, 2020 - The New York Times

Berline, Germany

Berlin Caps Rents as Anti-Gentrification Measure

The capital city, known for its artists and party scene, is aiming to reduce gentrification by capping rent prices for a period of five years.

February 3, 2020 - The New York Times

Olympia, Washington

Tax on High Earners Proposed to Fund Homeless Services in Seattle's King County

The Washington State Legislature is proposing a type of tax that the city of Seattle tried, and failed, to implement a few years go.

February 3, 2020 - KUOW

Multi-Family Housing

Housing Prices Soar Out of Reach in More U.S. Cities

There are multiple lessons to take from a recent rental housing, but a big one is how the housing crisis is expanding beyond the largest U.S. cities.

February 3, 2020 - Bloomberg

New York Apartments

Tough Times for Low- and Middle Income Renters

The annual report on the rental housing market by the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University shows how far and deep the housing affordability crisis has reached.

February 2, 2020 - Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University

Reimagining LA

Upzoning and Affordability, Explained

Upzoning is gaining popularity among planners and politicians in parts of the country as a tool for affordability. But some opponents of the idea maintain that new density will only make housing affordability worse.

January 31, 2020 - Curbed

Empty Homes

Vacancy Taxes as a Response to the Housing Crisis

Could vacancy taxes solve multiple housing challenges at once?

January 30, 2020 - WBUR

NIMBY Sign

Updated: Statewide Upzoning Falls Short Again in California

For the third year in a row, an effort to increase density near transit in statewide in California has stalled in the legislature.

January 30, 2020 - Los Angeles Times

Brooklyn

Opinion: Wealthy Residents Are Opposing Brooklyn Development to Protect Their Own Interests

Residents are arguing that a Williamsburg development would negatively affect the neighborhood. But it’s a grassroots effort to protect the status quo in a neighborhood where gentrification benefited them.

January 30, 2020 - New York Post

What subprime crisis? Affordable houses are everywhere.

Revealing the Secret Landlords of U.S. Real Estate

Amidst a crisis of housing affordability around the country, one media organization is leveraging public records law to discover answers to questions, long obscured from the public, about who controls the real estate market.

January 29, 2020 - KPBS

Subway Homeless

Proposed Law Would End Development Review Exemption for Homeless Shelters

If passed, a new law would require homeless shelter developments in New York City to undergo the full Uniform Land Use Review Procedure.

January 29, 2020 - Staten Island Advance

Mountain resort

Increased Property Taxes for Short-Term Rentals Under Consideration in Colorado

The idea of taxing rental homes at a commercial rate is likely to be a hot button in Colorado.

January 28, 2020 - The Denver Post

Pacific Coast

Housing Litigation by California Attorney General Yields Results

A landmark state lawsuit will be settled if the Huntington Beach City Council approves an amended specific plan that increases housing. The lawsuit was enabled by 2017 legislation strengthening California's 50-year-old housing element law.

January 27, 2020 - Los Angeles Daily News

Virginia

Virginia Upzoning and Accessory Dwelling Unit Bills Killed Quickly in Committee

The Land Use subcommittee of the Virginia House of Delegates decided quickly to uphold local control of zoning.

January 26, 2020 - WAMU

The Penninsula

Are Charter Cities Subject to California's Housing Laws?

After a San Mateo County Superior Court judge ruled that charter cities are exempt from the Housing Accountability Act, aka the anti-NIMBY law, the state stepped in to support the appellant, a YIMBY group that launched a "Sue the Suburbs" campaign.

January 24, 2020 - San Francisco Chronicle

Brooklyn

The High Costs of Housing Development: It's Complicated

The high costs of housing development do not fit a convenient narrative, according to new analysis by Jenny Schuetz from the Brookings Institution.

January 24, 2020 - Brookings

Missing Middle Housing

Legislation to Lift Local Prohibition of Middle Housing Proposed in Washington State

Washington State is the latest example of a state that wants to preempt local planning law to make it easier to add housing units to single-family residential properties all over the states.

January 23, 2020 - Sightline Institute

FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?

After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.

Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold

The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.

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.