Housing

Zoning codes, street standards, parking regulations, and other hidden determinants of the built environment are like regulatory zombies from the distant past, throwing up barriers in the path of human-scale placemaking, writes Robert Steuteville.

August 9, 2012 - Better! Cities & Towns

Is the return of the factory town the solution to jump-start new housing construction? Myron Curzan and Janet Lowenthal propose a plan for developing housing that caters specifically to workers stuck in between affordable and median housing.

August 8, 2012 - Urban Land

As Toronto's new chief planner Jennifer Keesmaat made the media rounds last week, her deft comments left local urbanists drunk on the possible. As the city's boosters sober up, John Lorinc recommends two chief priorities that must be tackled.

August 8, 2012 - Spacing Toronto

In Colorado and the West, the most desirable real estate is also the most likely to burn, writes Michael Kodas.

August 8, 2012 - OnEarth

Sixty percent of premature deaths are accounted for not by medical care or lack thereof, but by social circumstances, environmental conditions, and behavioral patterns. So perhaps the medical field on its own can't prevent them.

August 2, 2012 - Shelterforce

Is your home historic? The Atlantic Cities challenges its readers to look at the history behind their own homes, providing a list of 10 things one can do to learn something new about the place we spend most of our time.

August 2, 2012 - The Atlantic Cities

For a city of its size, London and its skyline are notoriously flat. Now, as the city struggles to expand its housing stock to meet the needs of it surging population, increasingly taller solutions are being prescribed, concerning some.

July 29, 2012 - The Global Urbanist

In this pair of 'cause and effect' articles, USA Today reporters describe the many companies seeking new office and R&D sites in San Francisco, whether relocating from expensive downtown Palo Alto, the South or East Bay, or outside the state or U.S.

July 28, 2012 - USA Today

Simon Clark and Chris Spillane document the illegal, and often squalid, housing that can be found only three miles from the gleaming Olympic Stadium.

July 27, 2012 - Bloomberg

Priced out of Brooklyn's hippest neighborhoods, young professionals who may have once fled Manhattan in search of affordable housing and "postindustrial charm" are making the reverse move in search of cheaper rents, reports Laura Kusisto.

July 26, 2012 - The Wall Street Journal

As shifting demographics and the Great Recession increase the functional demands on the typical suburban single-family home, outdated zoning laws are preventing the economical use of underused space, writes S. Mitra Kalita.

July 24, 2012 - The Wall Street Journal

Gone are the days of drab cinderblock housing for America's military families. Taking advantage of an initiative passed by Congress in 1996, today's privatized military housing developments are larger and packed with modern amenities.

July 22, 2012 - The New York Times

After the bust of the housing market in 2008, a striking reversal of settlement patterns in New Jersey gives cities the lead in population growth over once-booming suburbs and exurbs.

July 22, 2012 - New Jersey Future

A so-called "eco-friendly" apartment complex complete with solar panels that derives more than 90% of its energy needs from coal? China struggles to take sustainable development seriously.

July 21, 2012 - USA Today

Diverse suburban neighborhoods now outnumber their central city counterparts two to one. How will increasing (or decreasing) diversity change America's suburban stereotype?

July 21, 2012 - The Atlantic Cities

Even smaller than Mayor Bloomberg's 'micro-apartment' proposal for Manhattan, Berkeley developer Patrick Kennedy has his 'SmartSpace' model, based on his experience living in an Airstream trailer, headed to the Board of Supervisors on July 24.

July 19, 2012 - San Francisco Chronicle

Jessica Garrison and Angel Jennings report on a new lawsuit filed this week by the City of Los Angeles that is part of "an aggressive attempt to deal with the urban decay caused by the housing crash."

July 18, 2012 - Los Angeles Times

America's fundamental levels of governance are changing, writes Anna Clark in Next American City, who uses examples from Detroit and Cleveland to ascertain what the stakes are when cities cede public sector work to third parties.

July 15, 2012 - Next American City

As the third California city in a month files for bankruptcy protection, fears of a domino effect worry many. While bankruptcy may seem like an enticing solution, officials that have gone through it caution about the downside.

July 13, 2012 - Los Angeles Times

Teresa Burney reports on PulteGroup's new marketing services geared towards understanding the Gen Y demographic as new potential homeowners.

July 11, 2012 - Builder