Housing

Green Belts Cure Sprawl, Cause Problems
Touted as a solution to mindless suburban expansion, the vast green belts around U.K. cities create new challenges. Among them: less affordable housing, longer commutes, and dubious environmental benefits. What happens if these spaces get developed?
Following Tragedy—A Call to Fully Fund the Louisville Affordable Housing Trust Fund
Following the murder of a 12-year-old homeless child in Louisville, Beverly Duncan writes an editorial calling for Louisville Metro Council members to fully fund the Louisville Affordable Housing Trust Fund.
Plans to Close D.C. Homeless Shelter Relies on the Generosity of Landlords
Can a $52 million plan to close the D.C. General emergency shelter rely on the generosity of landlords in providing houses for the homeless?
Transform's New GreenTrip Parking Database
A new database from the Oakland-based Transform group maps and tracks unused parking spaces in multifamily housing developments.

Why Millennials Opt to Rent
Sandie Angulo Chen of Trulia discusses the reasons why Millennials prefer to rent homes or apartments instead of buying properties.
Subprime Lending and the Great Recession Still Impacting Black Americans
Nathalie Baptiste examines the case of Prince George’s County in Maryland near Washington D.C. as a study in how the housing and real estate markets has unjustly attacked the wealth of Black Americans.
Critiquing the Federal Housing Finance Agency's Policy on Loan Put-Backs
Laurie Goodman and Jun Zhu explain the complicated but critical controversy over the Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA) recent policy for sunsets on loan put-backs. At stake: the ongoing constraints on lending in the United States.

Beijing's One Million Underground Urban Dwellers
The October issue of Land Lines reveals the remarkable story of how an estimated one million people came to live in subterranean apartments in Beijing.
Star Apartments Offer Starchitect Treatment for L.A.'s Skid Row Homeless
The new 100-unit, $40-million Star Apartments opened in Skid Row earlier this week is part of Los Angeles County’s Housing for Health initiative to house 10,000 of the most vulnerable homeless people.
The Washington D.C. Housing Market Completely Flipped in One Decade
Trends in Washington D.C. housing affordability is similar to other cities around the country, but is also unique in how swiftly the housing market has shifted.
New York City Moving Forward with Inclusionary Zoning Study
The New York City Housing Development Corporation hired BAE Urban Economics, also known as Bay Area Economics, "to crunch the numbers on its forthcoming mandatory inclusionary housing program," according to an article by Joe Anuta.
Luxury Condos Saturating New York City's Housing Market
The housing market in NYC has seen a 98.5 percent increase in luxury condo construction since last year. Market experts are concerned there is not enough demand to meet supply, causing developers to build upper to middle-income housing instead.
Cleveland and Pittsburgh Lead First-Time Buyer Market
Calling Pittsburgh "the next Boston," recent analysis finds Pittsburgh and Cleveland are bucking trends in stagnant first-time buyer rates in the housing market.
Home Construction: Too Much Too Soon
Analyzing newly released data from the American Community Survey, Jed Kolko finds reason to believe that construction of singly-family housing is outpacing demand.
Real Estate Boom and Bust Hit Minorities the Hardest
A new visualization tool by the Urban Institute provides a vivid portrait of an unfortunate truth: the foreclosure crisis and other effects of the Great Recession real estate market were worse for minority groups.

Learning From My Condo
Even if new housing is expensive, it can reduce overall housing prices by causing existing units to become more affordable.
Transit Oriented Development Ordinance in Chicago Saves Space and Money
A recently adopted ordinance allows developers to build significantly fewer parking spaces for projects in proximity to transit stations. Developers have already responded to the advantages offered by the reduced requirements.
Where D.C.'s 'New Communities' Public Housing Program Went Wrong
Washington D.C.'s New Communities program has failed to live up to its titular promise, according to a new report released by the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development.
Downtown Los Angeles Punching Above its Weight in Residential Development
Shane Phillips shares the results of his own analysis about how completely Downtown Los Angeles has dominated the supply of new housing units in the city since 1999.

Mapping the Shrinking Neighborhoods of Chicago
Daniel Kay Hertz shares a map tracking the population of neighborhoods in Chicago since 1950, providing insights into how the city has changed.
Pagination
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
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Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
New York City School Construction Authority
Village of Glen Ellyn
Central Transportation Planning Staff/Boston Region MPO
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions