Housing

Foreclosure Sign

What Property Professors Are Writing About

A recent property professors' conference discussed a variety of issues of possible interest to planners including tightened home lending standards, municipal policies affecting the homeless, the Fair Housing Act, and inclusionary zoning.

March 2, 2015 - Michael Lewyn

McMansions

Does America Still Want Sprawl?

Increased awareness of sprawl’s negative effects has not led to a drop-off in its construction. Developers say they only build what the market demands.

March 2, 2015 - The Atlantic

Photo of Calgary skyline from Edworthy Park

Oil Town Feels the Pinch

The rise of shale oil in Alberta over the past decade has made Calgary one of the most vibrant cities on the continent. But with oil slumping around $50 per barrel, the fortunes of an industry town look less rosy.

February 28, 2015 - The Wall Street Journal

Nashville Turns to Inclusionary Zoning for Affordable Housing Relief

Nashville often gets left out of the national conversation about housing affordability and displacement. The challenge, however, has led the city's planning department to launch an effort to develop an inclusionary zoning policy for the Music City.

February 27, 2015 - The Tenessean

Don't Call Them Homeless Veterans!

Surprising insights on messaging from the front lines of NIMBY.

February 27, 2015 - Shelterforce

Dallas: City of Renters

The explosive growth of the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area in recent years has mostly gone toward rental housing, and now the area has one of the lowest homeownership rates in the country.

February 23, 2015 - The Dallas Morning News

Planning for Housing on Complicated Queens Rail Yard Continues

The 200-acre operational rail yard is the largest of six affordable housing sites that Mayor Bill de Blasio targeted for development. He hopes to build more than 11,000 units of affordable housing there, but Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo is not on board.

February 23, 2015 - The New York Times - N.Y. / Region

Levittown Long Island

Long Island Searching for Direction

Although it hosts some of the nation’s first and most successful auto suburbs, Long Island has experienced a downturn. This infographic-focused piece delves into the reasons why.

February 22, 2015 - CityLab

Shepard Fairey

Op-Ed: Don't Excuse Displacement when Rationalizing Gentrification

A recent article in Washington City Paper pushes back on the notion that the ill effects of gentrification are overblown. Resurgent cities must, according to the article, find ways to achieve the benefits of gentrification—without the displacement.

February 22, 2015 - Washington City Paper

Census Survey: Household Growth Finally Booming

The most recent Census Bureau Housing Vacancy Survey showed a long-awaited boom in household growth—to the tune of 1.6 million households in year-over-year growth.

February 21, 2015 - Harvard Center for Joint Housing Studies

Philadelphia Skyline

A Coming of Age Story for Philadelphia's Revitalized Center City

A housing report by analyzing Philadelphia's Center City enunciates an obstacle facing many cities in the throes of downtown revitalization: What happens when Millennials don't come home to roost?

February 20, 2015 - Philadelphia

Judge Evicts Rent-Stabilized Tenant for Listing on Airbnb

A judge's ruling in New York has evicted a rent-stabilized tenant in Hell's Kitchen. Renters might want to reconsider the terms of their lease before listing their apartments for rent—especially if they live in a rent stabilized apartment.

February 20, 2015 - New York Post

How to End Homelessness? Start—and Finish—With Veterans

We are so close to this goal. We should not change our focus before we meet it.

February 18, 2015 - Shelterforce

View of Portland, Oregon from Pittock Mansion

Portland Tops Gentrification Study

Research published by Governing Magazine finds that Portland, Oregon is the U.S. city with the highest degree of gentrification in this century.

February 17, 2015 - Fusion

New York City Construction

Affordable Housing: the Hype and the Hope

Sam Hall Kaplan elucidates the inadequacies of affordable housing policy before introducing a new perspective to the conversation—a new book by Roger Katan with Ronald Shiffman called "Building Together."

February 17, 2015 - Sam Hall Kaplan

6 Loopholes that Defeat Affordable Housing in London

Although London Mayor Boris Johnson's housing policies are mush less ambitious than his predecessor's, many parts of the city still lag well behind targets for affordable housing—even amidst an infamously cost-prohibitive real estate market.

February 16, 2015 - Citymetric

Austin Race map

Does New Urbanism Have a Racial Problem?

In two parts, NPR's City Project examines Austin's premier mixed-use urban village built on the 700-acre site of the former Robert Mueller Municipal Airport which relocated in 1999. Part 2 is about racial tensions that have surfaced in the community.

February 16, 2015 - NPR

Unaffordable, Growing Cities Lag on New Housing Permits

Stephen Smith follows up on an earlier report of New York City housing permits with a report on the entire metropolitan area. Included for comparison are the numbers of housing permit filings for metropolitan areas around the country.

February 15, 2015 - New York YIMBY

Pop Up Plaza in Louisville

Part Two: Should MoMA Tout Tactical Urbanism(s) as a Solution to Uneven Growth?

The second and final post about MoMa's exhibit, "Uneven Growth: Tactical Urbanisms for Expanding Megacities."

February 13, 2015 - Mike Lydon

Op-Ed: New York's Affordable Housing More Corrupt than Helpful

A columnist takes the recent scandal involving disgraced former New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver as a particularly heinous example of how far astray affordable housing policy is from its intended goal.

February 12, 2015 - Real Clear Policy

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.