Housing
Are We There Yet? Affordability in the 'New Normal'
In the new normal, an affordable lifestyle is suddenly of interest to a larger circle of us. Here's what some interesting innovators are doing about it, between now and when our politics and legal structure fully align with our needs.
Baltimore's Code Enforcement Has Teeth with 'Vacants to Value' Initiative
Baltimore is increasing lawsuits against negligent property owners with outstanding code violations. As part of the city's "Vacants to Value" initiative, forfeited properties are transferred to receivership and auctioned to new owners.
Cities Criminalizing Homelessness Amid Urban Boom
More cities—many of them "revitalizing" their urban cores at the same time as a national recession and a real estate market beset by diminishing supplies of low-income housing—are criminalizing homelessness.
Where Smaller is More Marketable
Unlike the message of an annoying commercial, bigger may not be better in the real estate market. Residential developers in Washington D.C. have found that millennials like small studios, or micro-units, provided the spaces are well designed.
Discrimination at Home: Luxury Development with 'Poor Door' Approved in NYC
Extell Development Company made news last summer by proposing a luxury development with a separate entrance for below-market-rate units. Now that the project is fully approved, New York councilmembers might expand anti-discrimination policies.
Literature Review: On the Importance of Affordable Housing for Families and Communities
A new report by Enterprise Community Partners provides a literature review of research about the effects of stable and affordable housing.
HUD Data Shows: 'Who Lives in Subsidized Housing?'
The Department of Housing and Urban Development recently released data about households receiving federal housing assistance. Lisa Sturtevant, writing for the National Housing Conference, provides an overview of the data.
Study Links Affordable Housing and Intellectual Ability in Children
Jonathan Walters shares news of a new study out of Johns Hopkins University finding a connection between affordable housing and the intellectual ability of children. Spend more, or less, than 30 percent on housing, and intellectual ability suffers.
Bill Would Require Affordable Housing in Sales of Public Land in Washington D.C.
"A DC Council committee voted…to require developers to include affordable housing any time they buy land from the city for residential development," reports Jenny Reed.
Economic Growth without the McMansions—Is America Ready?
Henry Grabar beckons the death of the McMansion, calling it an "American embarrassment" with no easy solution for planners.
New Research: Are Women Empowered by New Urbanism?
Charlotte Fagan and Dan Trudeau (Mcalester college) study two New Urbanist neighborhoods in Minneapolis to understand the ways in which New Urbanism impacts the empowerment of women.
The Structural Details of Brooklyn's New Modular High Rise
Modular construction is still in its infancy, but a building set for completion later this year at Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn is taking the building practice to new heights.
Fences Make Bad Neighbors in Hamden, Connecticut
The ugly story of the fence between a public housing community called New Haven and the nearby "middle class" community of Hamden, Connecticut will soon be over, but not because Hamden suddenly gained enlightenment.
Design, Engineering, and Construction Firms Hiring in New York Building Boom
Mark Fahey cites data from Crain's and the New York Building Congress showing that New York City's improving economy has percolated big numbers of hires through all levels of the building industry.
Why Foreign Money is Irrelevant to Increasing Density
While concern over foreign investment in the local real estate market is perfectly valid, the concern is irrelevant to the reasons and need to increase density and the supply of housing.
'Make It Right' Expands Homebuilding Mission to Assiniboine and Sioux Lands in Montana
Habin Kwak reports that Brad Pitt’s home-building operation, Make It Right, is expanding its operations outside of New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward and a subsequent expansion in Kansas City.
Density is Key to Fighting Climate Change, Rules Bay Area Judge
A group that coined the term, "stack and pack" to deride density and its role in reducing carbon emissions lost in court when the judge rejected their argument that only technological improvements in cars and fuels were necessary to reduce emissions.
Residents Clamor for Expanded Notification of Affordable Housing Projects in Texas
Michael E. Young reports that residents are upset about notification regarding the approval of two subsidized housing projects in the city of McKinney, located on the edge of the Dallas metropolitan area.
Redefining Affordability in the Most Expensive Neighborhoods
Ryan Hutchins reports on the details of a recent negotiation between Helen Rosenthal, Upper West Side City Council representative, and the developer of a 1,000-unit residential project in Hell's Kitchen.
Affordable, Mid-Term, Housing for All
A proposal to limit the amount of time low-income families can live in affordable housing.
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.
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Nashville Planning Department
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
Journal of the American Planning Association
