Housing

Interior of vacant/unfinished concrete open plan office building.

Dorm-Style Housing: A Solution for DC’s Vacant Office Buildings

Adapting office buildings to dorm-style housing with shared spaces is a much more affordable option than repurposing offices into apartments.

July 10, 2025 - Greater Greater Washington

Black and white photo of San Francisco city hall neoclassical dome with person walking across crosswalk in foreground.

San Francisco Mayor Backtracks on Homelessness Goal

Mayor Dan Lurie ran on a promise to build 1,500 additional shelter beds in the city, complete with supportive services. Now, his office says they are “shifting strategy” to focus on prevention and mental health treatment.

July 9, 2025 - The San Francisco Standard

Brutalist grey department of housing and urban development building in Washington DC.

How Trump's HUD Budget Proposal Would Harm Homelessness Response

Experts say the change to the HUD budget would make it more difficult to identify people who are homeless and connect them with services, and to prevent homelessness.

July 9, 2025 - Shelterforce Magazine

Sign in front of building for seior services center in St. Petersburg, Fl.

Florida Seniors Face Rising Homelessness Risk

High housing costs are pushing more seniors, many of them on a fixed income, into homelessness.

July 9, 2025 - WESH

Aerial view of Spokane, Washington with river in foreground.

Spokane Mayor Introduces Housing Reforms Package

Mayor Lisa Brown’s proposals include deferring or waiving some development fees to encourage more affordable housing development.

July 8, 2025 - The Spokesman-Review

Aerial view of heavily damaged mobile homes after a hurricane in Florida.

Florida Home Insurers Disproportionately Dropping Low-Income Households

Non-renewal rates are highest in inland counties, not the coastal areas most immediately vulnerable to storms.

July 8, 2025 - Inside Climate News

"Altadena - Not For Sale" yard sign in front of burned down house after Eaton Fire in Altadena, California in January 2025.

Half of Post-Fire Altadena Home Sales Were to Corporations

Large investors are quietly buying up dozens of properties in Altadena, California, where a devastating wildfire destroyed more than 6,000 homes in January.

July 7, 2025 - Dwell

Dense multistory residential buildings in hilly San Francisco, California.

Opinion: What San Francisco’s Proposed ‘Family Zoning’ Could Really Mean

Mayor Lurie is using ‘family zoning’ to encourage denser development and upzoning — but could the concept actually foster community and more human-scale public spaces?

July 7, 2025 - The San Francisco Standard

Google street view image of strip mall in suburban Duncanville, Texas.

Adaptive Reuse Will Create Housing in a Suburban Texas Strip Mall

A developer is reimagining a strip mall property as a mixed-use complex with housing and retail.

July 6, 2025 - Parking Reform Network

Blue tarps covering tents set up by unhoused people along chain link fence on concrete sidewalk.

Study: Anti-Homelessness Laws Don’t Work

Research shows that punitive measures that criminalized unhoused people don’t help reduce homelessness.

July 6, 2025 - Next City

Row of older brick houses in Detroit with front porches and front lawns.

Detroit Says Problems With Property Tax Assessments are Fixed. Advocates Disagree.

With higher-valued properties under assessed and lower-valued properties over assessed, advocates say there's still a problem with Detroit's property tax system.

July 6, 2025 - Shelterforce Magazine

Google street view of red brick multi-story power plant building in Pittsburgh, PA.

Defunct Pittsburgh Power Plant to Become Residential Tower

A decommissioned steam heat plant will be redeveloped into almost 100 affordable housing units.

July 4, 2025 - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Aerial view of new neifhborhood under construction with enpty lots in foreground.

In California Battle of Housing vs. Environment, Housing Just Won

A new state law significantly limits the power of CEQA, an environmental review law that served as a powerful tool for blocking new development.

July 2, 2025 - CALmatters

Aerial view of town of Wailuku in Maui, Hawaii with mountains in background against cloudy sunset sky.

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly

Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

July 1, 2025 - Honolulu Civil Beat

Tents inhabited by unhoused people lined up on sidewalk in Los Angeles, California in front of industrial building.

California Homeless Arrests, Citations Spike After Ruling

An investigation reveals that anti-homeless actions increased up to 500% after Grants Pass v. Johnson — even in cities claiming no policy change.

July 1, 2025 - Times of San Diego

Route 66 motel neon sign.

Albuquerque Route 66 Motels Become Affordable Housing

A $4 million city fund is incentivizing developers to breathe new life into derelict midcentury motels.

July 1, 2025 - High Country News

Aerial view of single-family homes with rooftop solar panels in planned development near Austin, Texas.

A New Texas Neighborhood is Powered by Geothermal Energy

The 7,500-home development claims to be Austin’s ‘first zero energy planned community.’

June 29, 2025 - Floodlight

Heat map of extreme heat in rural U.S. communities.

Data: In Rural America, Mobile Homes are Heat Traps

Extreme heat is often viewed as an urban problem, but rural communities face their own unique risks.

June 29, 2025 - The Daily Yonder

Zohran Mamdani, candidate for NYC mayor, speaking at event outdoors wearing black puffy jacket.

NYC: What Mamdani’s Rivals Can Teach Him About Transportation

The mayoral candidate won on a bold, progressive platform. Some of his opponents had even bolder ideas.

June 29, 2025 - StreetsBlog NYC

Two-story green apartment building in residential neighborhood in Berkeley, California with tall street trees.

Berkeley Approves ‘Middle Housing’ Ordinance

The city that invented single-family zoning is finally reckoning with its history of exclusion.

June 27, 2025 - San Francisco Chronicle

FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?

After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.

Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold

The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.

Senior Planner

City of Thousand Oaks

Community Development Director

City of Wisconsin Rapids

Professor of Urban Planning

Harvard University Graduate School of Design

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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.