Housing
How Not to Solve a Housing Crisis
More trouble in River City, as Portland and Oregon struggle with rising housing costs and come up with a puzzling solution.
A Quick Look at State-By-State Building Permit Data
Building permit data provides a barometer of the development market, which is a reflection of development processes and planning regimes. The arc of the country's housing construction trends bends toward Texas.
The Average American House Shrunk in 2017
For decades the size of the average American house has trended upward. 2017 saw that trend slow and reverse.
Report: Demand, Not Market-Rate Supply, Drives Housing Prices in San Francisco
The Urban Institute takes a detailed look at San Francisco's real estate market, where most home sales top $1 million, revealing that old units are far more likely to attract top dollar.
Homeless Numbers Continue to Rise in and Around Los Angeles
Rents continue to rise in Los Angeles and more people are living in their cars.
Sign of the Times: Developers Deconverting Condos Back to Apartments in Chicago
In the 1970s and 1980s, condo conversions were all the rage in Chicago. In 2017, however, developers are scooping up multi-family buildings en masse and "deconverting" condo units into apartments.
Infill Comes to Atlanta's Single-Family Neighborhoods
The Atlanta metropolitan area is facing an estimated 2.5 million new residents by 2040. Some current residents are surprised at some of the neighborhoods accommodating that growth.
Who's To Blame For Gentrification?
Journalist Peter Markowitz has written a provocative, and profoundly disingenuous, analysis of the causes and effects of gentrification in American cities. He sows division at a time that requires collaboration, writes Josh Stephens.
How American Homeownership Fosters Inequality
Matthew Desmond, author of "Evicted," looks at the lives of Americans across the economic spectrum to gain insight into how homeownership, mainly through the mortgage tax deduction, keeps the U.S. unequal.
Progressives Against Housing
In Zoned Out!, Tom Angotti, of City University New York (CUNY) tries to make the case against upzoning New York's neighborhoods (or at least its poorer ones).
Taller, Denser, but More Affordable Housing Coming to San Francisco
Following a similar ordinance signed into law by Mayor Ed Lee last July that dealt with developments that are 100 percent affordable, the new housing density ordinance apples to market-rate developments that have 30 percent affordability.
Missing Middle Housing: An Austin Case Study
The "missing middle" of housing is a concept familiar to many planners, but it's still probably unknown to most of the public. A story for Austin's NPR station could be an indication that the missing middle is entering the public consciousness.
Conspicuous and Controversial Condo Building Breaks Ground in Denver
Sloan Lake is getting a new neighbor.
How to Improve an Accessory Dwelling Unit Ordinance
Pasadena is revising its zoning regulations to accommodate more accessory dwelling units. This open letter to the city's Planning Commission includes sound suggestions, applicable everywhere.
Black Chicagoans Segregated, Regardless of Income
Latino Chicagoans are more likely to live in diverse neighborhoods than whites or blacks do.
Dan Savage: Doing Something Real About Gentrification and Displacement
Urbanites' complaints about gentrification have much in common with suburbanites' complaints about commutes. Scarcity due to the ridiculous amount of land zoned for single-family housing deserves as much blame for displacement as gentrification.
NYC's Rental Market Returns to the Single Room Occupancy Model of a Century Ago
A New York Times feature details the re-emergence of the single room occupancy (SRO) unit in the New York rental market. Despite a stigma and an old-fashioned quality, the SRO is becoming a badly needed housing solution.
Solving Homelessness: Title V's Shortcomings and Potential Explained
The Title V program makes the hard parts of solving homelessness—finding the money and the property—a lot easier. So why hasn't it been used at a much larger scale?
YIMBYs Attacked from the (Far) Left
Pro-housing activists in San Francisco are blamed for displacement of vulnerable communities because they support luxury housing developments. A report from the independent progressive website, Truthout, ties YIMBYs to the "alt-right."
Affordable Housing Lacking in Every State
A recent report from the Urban Institute warns of potentially expanding catastrophe for affordable housing around the country.
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.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
