Housing
How (and Where) NIMBY Zoning Regulations Stagnate the National Economy
Household formations and the tight mortgage market are one thing, but a recent article on Vox examines the role of zoning—and the NIMBYs that control it—in the housing market's stagnating influence on the national economy.
Preservation Concerns Raised Over Milwaukee’s Blight Reduction Plans
Although Milwaukee had been insulated from population loss compared to many other legacy cities, the Great Recession has required the city to launch an $11.6 million blight reduction program.
Explaining the National Economy's Real Estate Doldrums
Despite the housing boom in certain markets (such as New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco), the real estate market is nowhere near the economic driver it once was.
Senator Elizabeth Warren’s Candid Take on the Foreclosure Crisis
The Boston Globe provides an excerpt from the new book by Senator Elizabeth Warren, wherein she recounts her troubled reaction to a conversation with then Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.
Can the Garden Suburb Save the Suburbs?
“Can Paradise be Planned?” asks Allison Arieff in a recent op-ed. The article discusses new books by architect Robert A.M. Stern and photographer Christoph Gielen to look for reasons for optimism with regard to suburbs and planning.
Top 10 Reasons for a New American Dream
For three generations, the American Dream was largely defined by continual suburban expansion. A new urban dream has emerged, and it is here to stay.
The Urban Reordering: Can the United States Make it Stick?
The trend toward the urban has been documented from every possible angle, but a recent op-ed wonders whether it will be possible for the federal government to make a course correction that ceases the endless subsidies for the suburbs.
Is it a Suburban Exodus Yet?
A new report finds that suburban areas are losing residents to urban areas like New York City and Washington D.C., even well past the point when people would have traditionally made the choice to return to the suburbs.
Rent Unaffordable in 90 U.S. Cities
Several recent reports lend credence to the “rent is too damn high” narrative. But exorbitant rents aren’t just a story in New York City or San Francisco—median rent is higher than 30 percent of median income in 90 cities in the United States.
New Urbanism Gets a New Leader
Lynn Richards, formerly of the U.S. EPA's Office of Sustainable Communities, is set to become President of the Congress for the New Urbanism in July. In this interview, Richards says that forging new alliances will be a key goal for her.
A Comprehensive Examination of the Bay Area Housing Crisis
The Google Bus protests got the media’s attention, and the Ellis Act has politicians' attention, but the Bay Area’s current tech-housing-gentrification crisis is a big, complicated mess.
Making Multifamily Truly Urban
The multifamily industry is building more in walkable locations, but developers still need instruction on the manners of placemaking. Here are some hints.
Pulitzer Prizes Awarded for Urbanism and Built Environment Journalism
The 2014 Pulitzer Prizes yesterday awarded the best work of journalists over the past year. Included in the roster of winners were journalists and publications covering issues of relevance to Planetizen readers.
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.
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
