Housing

Los Angeles Apartments

Clash Over Garden City Apartments in Los Angeles

The Wyvernwood Garden Apartments, a large-scale low-rise development opened in 1939, are at the center of a preservation debate. Lauren Walser gives us the case for keeping them.

January 3, 2016 - National Trust For Historic Preservation

More than Meets the Eye With Seattle Development Trends

Few housing markets serve as a better case study about the politics and effects of housing supply than Seattle. A local writer takes a deeper look at the city's total development over the past year and comes to some surprising conclusions.

December 31, 2015 - Crosscut

Rowhouses Have an Ally in Philadelphia

An important source of housing affordable to wide ranges of incomes has a new, well-funded ally in Philadelphia—the Healthy Rowhouse Project is hoping to make a big impact in 2016.

December 28, 2015 - PlanPhilly

Portland Renter Protection Rules Backfire in Raised Rents

Rents continue to rise in Portland, and new rules have precipitated even more raised rents for populations that can least afford the new costs.

December 27, 2015 - The Oregonian

New York City Zoning Map

A National Consensus on Zoning? Not So Fast

The issue of zoning might be a place for wonks of both the conservatives and the liberal variety to find middle ground, but zoning in the real world is more contentious than consensus.

December 26, 2015 - City Observatory

Apartments St. Louis

St. Louis' Multi-Family Market Ready for Takeoff

Permits to rehab existing multi-family buildings have skyrocketed in St. Louis.

December 23, 2015 - nextSTL

Anchorage Considers Densification

In a city of sprawling surface parking, increased density may help close a serious affordable housing gap as Anchorage, Alaska, seeks ways to make development more affordable.

December 23, 2015 - Next City

Facebook to Offer Cash for Employees to Live Closer to Work

Here's one way to improve jobs-housing balance: employers can incentivize short commutes by helping to pay for the cost of housing.

December 23, 2015 - Bloomberg Business

16 Case Studies of Workforce Housing Protection

A new report from the Urban Land Institute responds to what it argues is a housing crisis among lower- and middle-income workers.

December 22, 2015 - Urban Land

Toward a Better Understanding of Supply and Demand

A housing market analyst finds that traditional models do a poor job of measuring supply and demand, which makes it very difficult to know how much supply is needed to meet demand.

December 21, 2015 - Pieria

Washington D.C. Metro

Rail Access in High Demand Among the Young, White, and Well Educated

Washington, D.C. provides a model for trends found in other cities: people living near transit are trending younger, whiter, and more educated.

December 20, 2015 - The Washington Post - Wonkblog

The Citizens Budget Commission Reports on NYC's Housing Affordability

As Mayor de Blasio pulls out all the stops to make the case for zoning proposals critical to his affordable housing plans, the Citizens Budget Commission assessed the economics of housing construction in the city.

December 19, 2015 - New York Citizens Budget Commission

New Year 2015

The Most Popular Planetizen Posts of 2015

The results of a year's worth of writing, reading, sharing, and commenting are in. These are the most popular Planetizen posts from the year 2015.

December 18, 2015 - James Brasuell

Planning Programs to Watch in the Federal Omnibus Spending Bill

Congress is on pace to wrap up a major piece of federal legislation before leaving for recess.

December 17, 2015 - APA Policy News

The 'Both/And' of the Housing Debate

Planners and community development housing activists and professionals need to start thinking about housing policy as "both...and." It is not reasonable to couch housing policy as either unfettered building or only rent.

December 16, 2015 - Shelterforce/Rooflines

Shell Companies Rule Los Angeles Luxury Real Estate

For all the intention New York gets for foreign investors buying up rarefied air, Los Angeles has allowed shell companies to completely control the luxury real estate market—and the neighborhoods where it locates.

December 15, 2015 - New York Times

Have We Been Wasting Affordable Housing Money?

It might seem like 10, or even 30, years is a long time to require affordability—until it's over and your public investment is lost.

December 15, 2015 - Shelterforce/Rooflines

Vancouver Hands Residents the Keys to Granny Flats

Leading other expensive cities in North America, Vancouver, British Columbia is quickly adding accessory dwelling units as a result of permissive regulations approved in 2009.

December 14, 2015 - Citiscope

Lost Our Home

Milwaukee's Push to Move the Homeless From the Streets Into Permanent Housing

Milwaukee County, Wisconsin is following a growing trend in cities across the country of working to end chronic homelessness by providing permanent housing to the homeless.

December 14, 2015 - Fusion

Zoning Strategies for an Aging Country

Planners convene to discuss a model plan for the smart growth of an aging population.

December 12, 2015 - Urban Institute

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.