Housing

Prospect Hill Park, Waltham, MA

Housing Crunch Provokes Debate in Boston Suburb

The city of Waltham, Massachusetts has added over 11,000 jobs since 2010, but only a few hundred homes. Developers see a prime opportunity, but city officials are reticent.

July 26, 2018 - The Boston Globe

Southern California Coast

San Diego Called Out for Section 8 Housing Discrimination

San Diego was identified for its failure to enact a Section 8 housing discrimination ordinance in a recent American Bar Association article. Poverty law attorney Parisa Ijadi-Maghsoodi explains the situation.

July 25, 2018 - UrbDeZine

Derelict Commercial Buildings

Optimism and Investment, Not 'Managed Decline," for the Rust Belt

Managed decline assumes that struggling cities will continue to struggle indefinitely. Is there a better way to plot neighborhood stabilization?

July 25, 2018 - Notes from the Underground

Corner lot gas station

Berkeley Zoning Board Choose Current Gas Station Over Proposed Co-Housing Development

The Zoning Adjustments Board (ZAB) of one of the nation's most progressive cities has chosen a very conservative approach to new housing projects.

July 25, 2018 - Berkeleyside

Minneapolis Traffic

Density Battles Looming in Minneapolis

The public comment period for the draft Minneapolis 2040 Comprehensive Plan will wrap up soon. City council members are already responding to concerns from singe-family neighborhood residents about the density proposed in the plan.

July 25, 2018 - Star Tribune

San Diego Rail

San Diego City Council Prohibits Short-Term Rentals in Second Homes and ADUs

In a move to limit the number of properties available for rental, the San Diego City Council members voted 6-3 to limit rentals to primary homes and the licensing process more strict.

July 24, 2018 - San Diego Union Tribune

Portland Airport Carpet

Rent Dropping in Portland

The market is working, according to City Observatory's take on data finding declining rents in the city of Portland.

July 24, 2018 - City Observatory

Brisbane, CA

San Francisco Suburb to Vote on Massive Project to Double Population

Brisbane, a city of about 4,700 on the southern border of San Francisco, will vote on a controversial ballot measure in November to approve or reject a mixed-use development including up to 2,200 residential units on a 660-acre vacant brownfield.

July 24, 2018 - San Mateo Daily Journal

Young Family

Debt and Rent Burden Keeping Millennials From Homeownership

Research from the Urban Institute finds that economic hurdles, not just lifestyle preferences, are stopping millennials from buying homes.

July 23, 2018 - Curbed

Santa Monica Bikes

Sometime This Summer, California's Population Tops 40 Million

Rather than projecting when the 50 million milestone will be reached, demographic and political indicators predict the state's population is more likely to decline, according to Joe Mathews of Zócalo Public Square.

July 23, 2018 - Zocalo Public Square

New York

Editorial: To Fix Housing, Fix Land Use

The scales of land use regulations are tipped, according to this editorial. Balancing them will result in a more affordable city.

July 22, 2018 - Crain's New York Business

Boston, Massachusetts

East Boston Kicks Off Series of New Neighborhood Plans

Planners and officials in Boston are gathering feedback from the community as an initial step in the recently announced planning and zoning process for East Boston.

July 20, 2018 - The Bay State Banner

Housing Construction

We Can Totally Build Our Way Out of This Problem

A list of responses to the statement, "We Can't Build Our Way Out of This Problem."

July 20, 2018 - Shelterforce

Manhattan and Brooklyn

New York City Clamps Down on Short-Term Rentals

New York City just approved new regulations on short-term rentals that could greatly reduce the number of listings in Airbnb's largest domestic market.

July 19, 2018 - The New York Times

Housing Starts, Permits Declining

Housing starts haven't ben this low in nine months, according to new data released by the U.S. Department of Commerce.

July 19, 2018 - Reuters

The Penninsula

Bay Area City Could Extend Development Restrictions Beyond Their Expiration Date

A signature-gathering campaign has expressed a desire to extend height and density limits in San Mateo.

July 19, 2018 - The Daily Journal

Fall Sprawl

Prescriptions for the 'Broken' Massachusetts Multi-Family Market

The Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) is taking a strong stance in support of zoning regulations that enable new multi-family housing developments.

July 19, 2018 - Metropolitan Area Planning Council

Construction

Inclusionary Zoning Explained

Master the ins and outs of inclusionary zoning.

July 19, 2018 - CityLab

San Francisco City Hall

San Francisco Voters to Decide on Employer Tax to House the Homeless

It started in Seattle with the Amazon Tax to pay for transportation and housing needs exacerbated by the city's largest employers. Last month, a Google Tax was placed on the November ballot in Silicon Valley. A landlord tax in Oakland could be next.

July 18, 2018 - Bloomberg News

Metro Train Station

L.A.'s Transit-Oriented Communities Program Finds Affordable Housing Success

The Los Angeles Transit-Oriented Communities program, which offers development bonuses in exchange for affordable housing in developments near transit lines, is the city's most successful affordable housing tool.

July 18, 2018 - The Real Deal

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.