Housing

With New Yorkers, and foreigners of means, increasingly smitten with the views afforded by the city's sprouting luxury residential towers, developers and brokers have found a novel way to sell lower-floor spaces - as 'mansions'.

July 28, 2013 - The New York Times

In advance of next year's mayoral race, the Washington City Paper has reached out to local leaders for their suggestions for how to fix one of the city's intractable problems. See their 28 detailed, and 26 simple, solutions.

July 27, 2013 - Washington City Paper

According to SF State University geographer, Jason Henderson, the adoption of Plan Bay Area by MTC and ABAG last Thursday was a "watershed moment in regional planning", but it also was a missed opportunity to improve transit to capture more trips.

July 26, 2013 - San Francisco Bay Guardian

There are now 227,000 individuals and families on the NYC Housing Authority's wait list for subsidized apartments, more than the city's entire public housing stock. With only 5,400 to 5,800 units available annually, the list is a dead end for most.

July 24, 2013 - The New York Times

During the Great Recession, household formation in the U.S. was well below historic levels, dimming the demand for new homes. Although many sectors of the economy have experienced sustained recoveries, household growth still lags.

July 24, 2013 - Trulia

With thousands of abandoned homes located in neighborhoods of varying shape and character, Chicago has a massive challenge in returning its vacant properties to active use. Can algorithms help leaders decide on the right solutions?

July 23, 2013 - Next City

Rick Jacobus looks for a way out of gentrification paralysis, and suggests that incremental improvements to lower-income neighborhoods can be a bulwark against broad displacement.

July 23, 2013 - Rooflines

For five Democratic candidates vying to become New York City's next mayor, a weekend sleepover in East Harlem's Lincoln Houses project was part reality show and part reality check.

July 22, 2013 - New York Daily News

The number of single households has grown three-fold since the 1950s. More sustainable and more likely to live in cities than married households, singles experience a major problem: metro areas are not planned for them but for nuclear families.

July 18, 2013 - The Atlantic Cities

Small-lot homes are popping up in the hillsides north of downtown L.A. While the new occupants, often young buyers who can't afford or aren't interested in traditional single-family homes and high-rise condos, are pleased, some neighbors are not.

July 16, 2013 - Los Angeles Times - Real Estate

The low-income housing and new-markets tax credits are two of the most effective tools for stimulating affordable housing creation and the revitalization of low-income neighborhoods. Don't let them fall victim to tax reform, argues Michael Rubinger.

July 16, 2013 - The New York Times

A rising chorus of architects, urban planners and developers are criticizing the suburban scale of development sweeping through downtown L.A. as a missed opportunity. They argue high-rises should be built instead of mid-rise apartment complexes.

July 16, 2013 - Los Angeles Downtown News

Tight housing inventories, rising prices, and conservative mortgage lenders are preventing many would-be homeowners from buying their piece of the 'American Dream'. Michelle Higgins explains why this may actually be a good thing.

July 15, 2013 - The New York Times

The creator of the TED conference has teamed up with Esri to develop an innovative interactive exhibit and online mapping tool to compare 16 global cities along 16 data points, including: population density, open space, and traffic.

July 12, 2013 - Fast Company Co.Exist

A controversial affordable housing project proposed for Somerville, Mass. diffused community opposition by coordinating with the for-profit developer of an adjacent parcel. Could the partnership provide a template for moderating NIMBYism?

July 10, 2013 - Rooflines

In an in-depth article, Robert Samuels examines the "oversights, missteps and missed opportunities" that have turned the New Communities Initiative - imagined as "the centerpiece of the District’s affordable-housing efforts" - into a train wreck.

July 9, 2013 - The Washington Post

Across the D.C. metro area, the supply of market-affordable apartments has dropped dramatically over the past decade as the region's economy has boomed. Nonprofit groups and local governments are working to improve affordability.

July 8, 2013 - The Washington Post

American reliance on property taxes leads to NIMBYism and periodic tax revolts, thus impeding both development and basic public services.

July 4, 2013 - Michael Lewyn

The nation has a huge quantity of postwar housing that can be made more walkable and appealing to new generations of residents. Robert Steuteville examines what makes them good candidates and notes some examples of successful retrofits.

July 3, 2013 - Better! Cities & Towns

While it may not have the world's highest absolute property values, Beijing has the highest imbalance between housing prices and incomes. Gwynn Guilford examines why this is problematic for the country's economic and social wellbeing.

July 2, 2013 - Quartz