Housing

Public housing models in the U.S. are becoming more community-oriented and taking varying demographics into account during the design process. Engagement with the street, the neighborhood, and social services are creating new design typologies.

March 29, 2013 - Architectural Record

The certainly won't win any design awards, but new multi-family residential buildings erected by Hasidic developers in Brooklyn show that it's possible to build spacious and cheap housing in New York for families small and large.

March 28, 2013 - The New York Observer

The conversion of an historic art deco baseball stadium in Indianapolis into loft apartments is one of the most inventive adaptive re-use projects we've ever seen.

March 26, 2013 - The Architect's Newspaper

A new study conducted by the Center for Neighborhood Technology shows that homes in close proximity to transit stations lost much less of their value during the collapse of the housing market, reports Tanya Snyder.

March 24, 2013 - DC.Streetsblog

New analysis of census data has found that a quarter of the condos in some areas of downtown Vancouver are empty or occupied by non-residents, leading analysts to raise concerns about the role of investors in the city's housing market.

March 22, 2013 - The Globe and Mail

The rapid recovery of the housing market has caught America's home builders off guard with record low levels of inventory. The return of "bubblelike price jumps" and bidding wars are causing problems for buyers and sellers alike.

March 22, 2013 - The New York Times

Over the course of the year, the editors of Planetizen review and summarize thousands of articles, books, studies and editorials related to planning and urban development. Here are our picks for the most notable planning trends of the past year.

March 19, 2013 - Jonathan Nettler

Did the rezoning of the Williamsburg waterfront backfire? Stephen Jacob Smith reflects on the lack of transition between the neighborhood's skyscraping waterfront and its low-rise inland, a missing middle mandated by recent upzoning.

March 17, 2013 - New York Observer

Lamar Anderson offers a window into some promising extremely inexpensive housing solutions that engage the user in the design and construction process.

March 17, 2013 - Architectural Record

Apparently, "one of the oldest home styles in the world" is making a comeback. Alyssa Abkowitz looks at the growing trend in incorporating courtyards into new home designs.

March 16, 2013 - The Wall Street Journal

David Moser pens a compelling essay that examines the ways in which sprawling auto-dependent land use patterns exacerbate poverty. As more low-income individuals and families are pushed to the suburbs, "this problem is gaining urgency."

March 13, 2013 - Citytank

Brad Pitt's Make It Right foundation has built 90 cutting-edge homes in New Orleans' largely abandoned Lower Ninth Ward. Stores and services have stayed away, however, prompting many to wonder if the area will ever become a livable community again.

March 13, 2013 - The New Republic

Using funds made available by savings captured through administrative reforms and other sources, New York's beleaguered Housing Authority has made considerable progress in tackling one of its most pressing problems - its backlog of maintenance jobs.

March 12, 2013 - Crain's New York Business

We've long focused on the *what* when providing housing for seniors. Today Hazel Borys reminds us that the *where* is equally critical, if not more so.

March 12, 2013 - PlaceShakers

With the demolition of notorious high-rise housing projects such as Cabrini-Green over the last decade and a half, Chicago became a model for a new approach to public housing. A new study tracks former high-rise residents to see how they've fared.

March 11, 2013 - Chicago Tribune

Flavie Halais looks at both successful and unsuccessful cases of alleviating slum conditions on three continents. For the best results, practitioners must be more adept at problem solving and creativity than pure design.

March 10, 2013 - Architectural Record

Over the next 20 years, San Francisco is expected to add 150,000 new residents, or nearly 20% of its existing population. John Wildermuth looks at the "hard choices" confronting the city as it plans for its future.

March 6, 2013 - San Francisco Chronicle

Over the next two decades, we’re going to experience the most dramatic changes in American neighborhoods since the post-WWII era. Ben Brown looks at the changes on the horizon for the housing market, and the role planners will play in meeting them.

March 6, 2013 - PlaceShakers

As aging baby boomers enter retirement and seek to downsize from their large single-family homes (the "great senior sell-off") they'll find a housing market increasingly uninterested in what they're selling, says researcher Arthur C. Nelson.

March 5, 2013 - The Atlantic Cities

While some agree that the plan has financial merit, others fear the social costs of mixing incomes in public housing neighborhoods. The authority's chairman sees it as a win-win.

March 5, 2013 - City Limits