Housing
Building Support for Affordable Housing
A recent article on PlannersWeb acts as a kind of playbook for building public support for affordable housing projects.
How Not To Measure Housing Affordability
Critics argue that smart growth reduces housing affordability. Their criticisms are partly legitimate and largely wrong, based on incomplete and biased analysis.
Study: Planning Failed the Decaying Suburban Subdivision of Windy Ridge
A new study that examines the contributing and enabling factors that led to high foreclosure rates, neighborhood decline, and disparate impacts on low-income populations in the subdivision of Windy Ridge, near Charlotte, North Carolina.
Multifamily Evolution: From 'Train Wreck' to Urban
In a comprehensive piece called "What's New in New Urbanism," Multi-Housing News reports that new urban ideas have "swept the industry over the past 20 years."
Questioning Chicago’s Development-Friendly Reputation
Chicago has a reputation for being the most development-friendly city this side of Houston. But Stephen J. Smith cites restrictive zoning outside the Loop as one cause of the city’s anemic housing market.
Housing Policy Repair for a New Era: Let’s Review
Communities across the U.S. are increasingly frustrated at the persistence of mid-20th-century thinking about housing among local leaders even in the face of a mountain of 21st-century evidence that times have changed.
Optimism Indicator: Record Number of Building Permits in Philadelphia
Observers of Philadelphia’s economic and social situation can celebrate, and worry, given recent data on issues like poverty, crime, and the job market. One bright spot, however, is 2013's record number of building permits.
Realtors Discover Demand for Walkable Places
After generations of sales focused on conventional suburbia, realtors are discovering the demand for walkable, urban places.
Housing is the Key to Family-Friendly Cities
Why housing should take priority in the effort to attract families back to the city (and welcome them to stay awhile).
$1 Large Lot Sales Underway in Chicago
For sale in Chicago for $1: city-owned lots in Southside neighborhoods. The idea, which has been implemented in Chicago before, is to get more land in the hands of neighborhood residents and stakeholders.
The Secret to Community Development Fund Success
Two innovative community development funds are behind big impact on affordable housing in New York and Colorado. Enterprise Community Partners spells out how they're structured, the lessons they've learned, and why it's not that scary.
San Francisco Legalizes Rental of 'In-Law Units'
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted earlier this week to allow property owners to rent “in-law units”—a major policy departure that could add tens of thousands of rental units to the constrained San Francisco real estate market.
Cars Are Key to Reducing Poverty
Many advocates for new ways of thinking about places and streets argue for reduced use of cars as the dominant mode of transportation. A new study finds, however that poverty is improved when the poor have access to a car for transportation.
HUD expected to further ease restrictions on mixed-use financing
The administrative change to follow recent successful FHA standards, according to CNU president John Norquist.
'People Habitat': Kaid Benfield Takes Smart Growth to a Higher Level
Kaid Benfield has a new book out, which Scott Doyon found positively uplifting. In ways beyond what you might be thinking.
Walkability and the Risk of Mortgage Default
A recent study strengthens the economic case for walkable communities, finding a strong inverse relationship between walkscore and risk of mortgage default.
New Study Tests Assumptions About Housing Vouchers and Crime
A new paper published in the Urban Studies journal finds a weak, negative relationship between vouchers and violent crime rates. There is no observable relationship between vouchers and violent crime rates in suburban areas.
Is this Closure? Bank of America Settles with FHFA for $9.3 Billion
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced a $9.3 billion settlement with Bank of America following a 2011 suit tied to the bank’s role in selling faulty mortgage-backed securities to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
New Garden City Won't Solve London's Affordable-Housing Problem
London’s contemporary affordable-housing crisis has revived a century-old idea: the garden city.
Which Is the Problem: Affordable Housing or Poverty?
Jonathan Geeting argues that Philadelphia’s recently proposed affordable housing program is focusing on the wrong problem—in Philadelphia, housing is quite affordable, but people are still too poor to afford it.
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.
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
JM Goldson LLC
Custer County Colorado
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Jefferson Parish Government
Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Claremont
