Housing
Philadelphia's Rowhouse Remedy for Gentrification
Blessed with an innate resilience, Philadelphia's brick rowhouses risk disrepair and redevelopment. Local nonprofits are looking for ways to keep this resource equitable.
Seattle NIMBYs Protest Dense Development, Cite Eastern Bloc
A zoning bill has stirred up the fear that dense development projects will transform Seattle into a "Soviet cityscape." Residents accuse developers of using loopholes to squeeze in pricey, out-of-character townhomes.
Affordable Housing Follows Good Transit
More raw housing stock is only the first step. Without comprehensive transit, the value of density can't extend beyond the city center.
Urban Institute Report: Peak Homeownership Reached Nine Years Ago
Homeownership peaked at 67.3% in 2006. The Urban Institute forecasts its decline to the year 2030. Emily Badger of The Washington Post Wonkblog writes on the report released this month that evaluates homeownership rates among different demographics.
California State Supreme Court Upholds Inclusionary Zoning Laws
The California Building Industry Association (BIA) had taken its case to the State Supreme Court, but in the end the court decided that municipalities could require developers to set aide a portion of units for affordable housing.
HUD's 'Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing' Provokes Controversy in Congress
A rule proposed by the Obama Administration has been criticized for attempting to build an "unrealistic utopia." The Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing would require cities to fund affordable housing in a broader spectrum of neighborhoods.
San Francisco's Intractable Housing Dilemma
Blogger Shane Phillips writes that San Francisco has two possible responses to its housing crisis: increase supply to accommodate newcomers, or hunker down and promote only subsidized housing. Both, he says, are lousy. Other coastal cities, beware.
How Landlords Segregate Neighborhoods
Exploring the persistence of racial segregation as a result of U.S. housing policies—policies intended to break patterns of segregation, not reproduce them.
Seattle Searching for Answers on Affordable Housing
The city of Seattle has a stated goal of creating 30,000 new market rate housing units and 20,000 new or newly rent-restricted units in the city in the next 10 years. How to do so is the question currently before local officials.
U.S. Opposition to New Development
New data from the 2015 Saint Index shows what projects provoke the most opposition in the United States when proposed "In your community."
The New Housing Crisis: Declining Homeownership, Increasing Rental Costs
Research from the Urban Institute identifies market and demographic trends that could mean a future housing market that will stand in stark contrast to the "subprime mania of the early 2000s."
Op-Ed Decries Santa Monica's Airbnb Ban
By exiling short-term renters, the coastal city of Santa Monica shifts its housing burden onto neighboring areas. That burden, according to this op-ed, contradicts the city's sustainability commitment and further limits scarce residential options.
More McMansions: Upscaling Suburbia
According to this article, the market forces behind large home construction are alive and well. In a process of suburban gentrification, developers purchase older, smaller homes and build "McMansions" in their place.
Why New York Barely Taxes Its Billionaires
If taxed at an average rate, the buyer of One57's $100.5 million penthouse should have paid $1.3 million in property taxes. Instead, the property was assessed at $17,000. Here's why.
Seattle 2035 Comprehensive Plan Wrestles With Urban Growth
As increasing density and increasing housing costs raise temperatures all over Seattle, residents and planners are engaging in a comprehensive plan that will determine how the city grows over the next 20 years.
Land Bank Achieves Initial Success in Erie County, New York
The former steel town of Lackawanna, in Erie County, New York, is the latest beneficiary of the growing reach of land banks.
San Francisco's Proposed Housing Moratorium Is a Bad Idea
After San Francisco Supervisors reject housing moratorium, proponents vow ballot initiative. But a moratorium is the wrong solution to the problem and would likely lead to continued price increases, condo conversions, and Ellis Act evictions.
New Policies Could Exacerbate Housing Crisis for Autistic Communities
The autism community is faced with a housing crisis that could from bad to worse if housing standards end a waiver program that allows group homes for people with intellectual and development disabilities.
No More Hidden Gems Thanks to Investor-Centric Real Estate
Although large investors made only 4.3 percent of single-family home purchases in 2014, they may be reducing the competitiveness of traditional buyers. With ready cash and sophisticated algorithms, investors get there first and make better bids.
San Francisco Mayor to Increase Homeless Relief
Mayor Ed Lee has announced plans to devote $28.9 million to housing, medical aid, and counseling programs. Nonprofits will partner with the city in an effort to put rising municipal revenue to good use.
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.
Tyler Technologies
New York City School Construction Authority
Village of Glen Ellyn
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
