Housing

Planned Epicurean District in Paris Raises the Specter of Gentrification

A new corridor planned as a haven for local gourmet food in the quiet Haut Marais neighborhood of Paris concerns residents with the threat of gentrification.

August 23, 2014 - New York Times

Los Angeles is the Least Affordable Rental Market in the Country

A new study confirmed that the average Los Angeles renter allocates 47 percent of their paycheck towards rent.

August 22, 2014 - KPCC

New York City Ranks Highly for 'Location Affordability'

A comparative analysis by the Citizens Budget Commission provides a softer take on the "affordability crisis" making so much news in New York City. The conclusion of the study is that New York City is more affordable than many other large cities.

August 20, 2014 - Crain's Business New York

Gentrification Creeps North of Boston

Naomi Kooker tells of the rapidly increasing pace of gentrification in the once gritty, now expensive, Boston suburb of Somerville.

August 19, 2014 - The Boston Globe

Lean Urbanism: A Century-Old Practice?

A short case study in Lean Urbanism, compliments of Victoria Beach, Manitoba.

August 19, 2014 - PlaceShakers

'Dire' Budget Shortfall at the New York City Housing Authority

Faced with shrinking federal spending on affordable housing and a strained housing market, the New York City Housing Authority is dealing with a massive budget shortfall and a massive wait list.

August 19, 2014 - The New York Times

Seattle Apartments

Micro-Housing Debate Continues in Seattle

The "D" word (Density) is in play in Seattle, as city leaders and residents debate micro-housing regulations proposed by the City Council in May.

August 18, 2014 - Crosscut Seattle

San Francisco Parking

San Francisco's Housing Craze: More People Fewer Cars

Something strange is taking place in the City by the Bay. It's not just experiencing a growth in carless households—carless households are actually replacing those with cars.

August 18, 2014 - S.F. Streetsblog

Retrofitting New York City's Multi-Family Housing for Resilience

Multi-family housing took the brunt of Hurricane Sandy. Compounding the many challenges to storm-proofing the city's housing supply: 90 percent of the housing in flood-prone areas was built before 1983, when flood-resistance standards were adopted.

August 17, 2014 - Urban Land Magazine

Walkable DC

A Collection of Benefits for 'Walkable, Compact, Diverse' Neighborhoods

A meta-analysis published in Housing Policy Debate finds that extensive studies in recent years support positive claims about walkable neighborhoods.

August 16, 2014 - Better Cities & Towns

Suburbia

What is a 'House'? Critiquing the Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey

Demographia's International Housing Affordability Surveys are widely used to compare cities and evaluate urban development policies, but there are good reasons to question their analysis methods, starting with their definition of "house."

August 15, 2014 - Todd Litman

Activists Advocate for Community Land Trusts

“We were drawn to CLTs not just as a technical model, but because they provide the opportunity for residents—including renters—to actually have control over their homes and communities,” says Tony Romano, the Right to the City's organizing director.

August 14, 2014 - Shelterforce/Rooflines

Debate Continued: Supply vs Demand

Jim Russell is again taking to the pulpit to dissent from the popular view that supply problems are causing housing affordability crises in cities like New York and San Francisco.

August 14, 2014 - Pacific Standard

Unbundling Parking Costs to Keep Families in Cities

Cities tend to attract Millennials, but as the saying goes, when they get older and start families, off they go to the suburbs! Seattle developer and author A-P Hurd promotes parking unbundling as a key strategy enabling families to remain in cities.

August 11, 2014 - CityLab

Multi-Generational Housing not only for Oldest Adults, Also Young Adults.

The Great Recession spiked the amount of young adults (aged 25-34) living in multi-generational housing, which has now surpassed the share of oldest adults (age 85+) living in these types of household structures.

August 8, 2014 - Pew Research Center

New Applications for 3D Printing: Sanitation and Shelter

Called by some the "third industrial revolution," what are some of the opportunities and costs of applying 3D printing to issues facing the developing world, and more importantly, emergency housing?

August 6, 2014 - The Guardian

Housing Crunch Comes to Appalachia

Housing shortages are news in San Francisco and North Dakota, even if for different reasons. But parts of Ohio and Pennsylvania are facing the tough policy questions from their own, less documented fracking boom.

August 5, 2014 - The Washington Post - Wonkblog

San Antonio Christmas

Why 'Place' Is the New American Dream

The new American Dream will transform cities and towns in the 21st Century. To understand it, we have to grasp a few features of the previous American Dream.

August 5, 2014 - Better Cities & Towns

Downtown Oklahoma City

The Fastest Growing Cities are Affordable Cities

Although Americans are moving less, many of those that have migrated recently have decamped to inland cities where they can afford the cost of housing, according to an article by Shaila Dewan.

August 4, 2014 - New York Times

Oakland skyline and San Francisco Bay

Time to Look at Oakland

While Oakland is by no means an easy place to develop real estate, the often maligned East Bay city of over 400,000 residents may very well be the Bay Area’s best place to embrace much-needed development.

August 4, 2014 - Reuben Duarte

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.