Housing

Gentrification

Seattle Approves New Tenant Protection Laws

Renters have new protections in a quickly growing city with more and more pressure on rental prices.

June 11, 2016 - Crosscut

Clear-Sky Flood

Welcome to a Changed Climate: It Even Floods When it's Sunny

A new report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration documents the increasing frequency of nuisance floods and "clear-sky flooding."

June 11, 2016 - USA Today

Gateway Tower

Planetizen Week in Review: June 10, 2016

A two-minute-and-thirty-five-second tour of the news and events from the week in planning.

June 10, 2016 - Planetizen

San Francisco Construction

Inclusionary Zoning: The Good and the Bad

New research shows that affordable housing mandates usually don't raise housing costs, but often fail to benefit benefit the lowest-income families.

June 10, 2016 - CityLab

Did Amazon Really Just Create a Pop-up Homeless Shelter?

As cities around the U.S. scramble to figure out how to address the housing affordability crisis, one of them has now leaned on the benevolence of what some consider the least benevolent of them all.

June 10, 2016 - Shelterforce/Rooflines

Philly Developer Must Comply With Zoning Deal Before Tenants Can Occupy Luxury Units

City officials in Philadelphia are scrambling to deal with the fallout after a developer suddenly backed out of a deal that allowed additional height in exchange for affordable housing units for a 250-unit development near the Delaware River.

June 10, 2016 - The Philadelphia Inquirer

Golden Gate

Bay Area Election Roundup: Wetlands, Housing, Ballot-Box Planning, Sales Tax

A regional measure to tax all property owners in the 9-county Bay Area to adapt to sea level rise passes; S.F. voters support raising the affordable housing bar; Richmond voters reject ballot-box planning; San José approves sales tax increase.

June 9, 2016 - Planetizen

Bank Owned

Mapping Tool Enables Housing Action in Detroit and Beyond

A web tool that helped Detroit develop a housing plan may ultimately provide public data on every parcel in the country.

June 9, 2016 - The Washington Post

Homelessness

Cities Facing Lawsuits Over New Homeless Crackdowns

As more cities attempt to crackdown on homelessness, legal fights have broken out as advocates for the homeless fight back against the criminalization of panhandling and camping in public.

June 6, 2016 - The Washington Post

East Brother Light Station

Developer's Ballot Box Planning Would Allow Suburban Development at Ferry Terminal

A June 7 ballot measure in Richmond, California would permit 59 single family homes to be built on a 5-acre bayfront lot within walking distance to a future ferry landing for San Francisco service. The site is zoned for high-density housing.

June 4, 2016 - San Francisco Chronicle

Gateway Arch Rendering 2

Planetizen Week in Review: June 3, 2016

Planetizen Managing Editor James Brasuell shares some of the biggest news and announcements from the week in planning, land use, and related topics. All in two minutes and 30 seconds.

June 3, 2016 - Planetizen

San Francisco Bay Bridge

The 'Housing Development Dashboard' Promises a New Understanding of Housing Policy

A new set of tools from the U.C. Berkeley Terner Center for Housing Innovation offers insight into how projects fit into the policy landscape, as well as how changes to the policy landscape could impact development.

June 3, 2016 - Terner Center for Housing Innovation

Detroit Vacant

'Vacant Home Tour' Reimagines Blight

It's not your typical walking tour: A resident-led project in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania explores the history of a community through its blighted properties.

June 2, 2016 - Community Progress Blog

Demolition

Tear It Down and They Will Come?

There's a rationale for the demolition of vacant properties in cities like Chicago, but does that mean the city should be celebrating these programs? The planning of shrinking cities, it turns out, is still very much a work in progress.

June 2, 2016 - WBEZ

Portland Weird

Is Portland the Next San Francisco?

Now that tech companies have "discovered" Portland, Oregon, longtime residents question whether the progressive city has done enough to protect them from displacement. Sound familiar?

June 1, 2016 - The Atlantic

Rental Apartments

Housing Crisis Leads to Renewed Support For Rent Control

As rents in the Bay Area have skyrocketed, cities are updating and introducing rent control ordinances. They are stoking age-old debates over the macroeconomic value of rent control.

June 1, 2016 - California Planning & Development Report

San Francisco Construction

Conflicting Views on How Best to Combat Gentrification, Explained

Two new reports, and one older one, assign unequal significance of the ability of new market rate housing to filter older housing into affordability.

May 31, 2016 - East Bay Express

Pont Neuf

In Paris, Tough Talk on Income Segregation

As is so often the case worldwide, many Parisians live in communities distinguished by class. The city government wants to change that by inserting thousands of public housing units in wealthy central districts.

May 31, 2016 - CityLab

Elderly Walking

10 Ways to Make Cities Livable for the Elderly

How can the New Urban Agenda respect the elderly—and make cities better for all of us in the process?

May 30, 2016 - Next City

Fresno Crime

Fresno's Troubled Housing History

The crisis facing many Fresno renters is nothing new. A history of housing in the city shows how, since the late 19th century, poor housing conditions have been "ingrained in Fresno's culture."

May 27, 2016 - Fresno Bee

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.