Housing

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is looking to technology to help Americans learn more about fair housing practices and make it easier to file complaints about discrimination.

March 5, 2013 - The Washington Post

Since it began in 1999, Toronto's condo boom has added 120,000 units to the city and, in the process, transformed its urban landscape. City leaders are just now beginning to address how to accommodate these new residents.

March 4, 2013 - The Globe and Mail

Ever wonder how the layout of some of television's most famous domiciles might be depicted in the hands of a professional? Look no further, interior designer Iñaki Aliste Lizarralde has you covered.

March 4, 2013 - Laughing Squid

They're filled with musty bathrooms and peeling paint, and they're selling in the tens of millions of dollars. Jim Yardley examines New Delhi's real estate boom, which is driven by "ego, status and some unique distortions in India’s economy."

March 4, 2013 - The New York Times

Although the Obama Administration has supported a reduced role for the government in supporting the housing market, it still backs 90 percent of newly issued mortgages - "more than ever before." A new report examines the prospect of a withdrawal.

March 1, 2013 - The New York Times

Suburban Orlando is home to what might well be the best example of the absurd development patterns of post-war America. There you'll find two houses with adjoining backyards whose front doors are separated by seven miles of roads.

March 1, 2013 - DC.Streetsblog

Challenges that strong and weak markets alike share

March 1, 2013 - Charles Buki

Affordable rental housing is scarce in the US, especially among low income people, finds a new report by the Bipartisan Policy Center. As "the housing demand of Baby Boomers and their children starts to converge," the problem will only get worse.

February 27, 2013 - The Atlantic Cities

Unlike the 1970s and 80s, when a building boom created a vocal backlash, S.F.'s current surge in development hasn't galvanized a concerted no-build movement. If gentrification is driven by demand 'from the bottom up,' does that mean it's desirable?

February 25, 2013 - San Francisco Chronicle

Schools are a prime driver of housing choices and transportation behavior. So why are schools and children often missing from the planning process? Ruth Miller diagnoses the problem and looks at how we can change it.

February 22, 2013 - Colab Radio

A new report calls into question who's benefiting from the Bloomberg administration’s plan to build or preserve 165,000 affordable housing units in the city. Are federal guidelines to blame for 'affordable' units being too costly?

February 21, 2013 - The New York Times

The Providence Arcade, thought to be America's oldest enclosed shopping mall, suffered the same fate as many of its 20th century brethren when it was shuttered in 2008. A developer seeks to revive the building as a mixed-use "micro-loft" complex.

February 21, 2013 - Mother Nature Network

With the release of his new "Sustainable D.C." plan, Mayor Vincent Gray has outlined dozens of initiatives "that he hopes will vastly change how residents and visitors experience and travel across the city," reports Tim Craig.

February 20, 2013 - The Washington Post

In the last three decades HOAs have grown six-fold in the U.S. They now cover 20 percent of American homes, and stifle sustainability and expression through “one of the most significant privatizations of local government functions in history.”

February 20, 2013 - NRDC Switchboard

High cost of living and lack of jobs are driving urban populations out of cities, and simply increasing density requirements might not be enough to reverse the trend, argues Jim Russell.

February 19, 2013 - Sustainable Cities Collective

Frank Lloyd Wright's design for a Usonian high-rise on the Bowery featured rotated open floor plans to provide living space variation.

February 17, 2013 - Curbed NY

As cities and counties move forward with smoke-free housing laws, a different public health concern often gets lost in the shuffle: how to make sure these new laws don’t put low-income residents at risk of losing their homes.

February 16, 2013 - HealthyCal.org

Anyone with an Internet connection can tell you when a city was founded. But after the trauma of urban renewal and suburban flight, how much historic fabric remains? Wendell Cox ranks metropolitan areas by their shares of pre-World War II homes.

February 15, 2013 - New Geography

Architectural historian Mitchell Schwarzer traces the historic roots of container architecture and argues that today's shipping container developments, like Proxy in San Francisco, are leading the way to a new kind of urbanism.

February 14, 2013 - Places Journal

Jessica Garrison reports on the ambitious $600 million "makeover" planned for the Jordan Downs housing project. The phased transformation, which allows any existing resident "in good standing" to stay, will be the largest such effort in the U.S.

February 11, 2013 - Los Angeles Times