Housing

The planning staff of Buffalo, NY lobbied ABC to bring their program Extreme Makeover: Home Edition to Buffalo - and change their suburban standards to New Urbanist ones.

November 16, 2009 - Buffalo Rising

Builders John Wieland Homes & Neighborhoods, hit hard by the downturn, is meeting consumer price points by creating compact home designs instead of the 4,700 sq. ft. homes that were their bread and butter.

November 15, 2009 - The Wall St. Journal

The 2005 Supreme Court decision on Kelo v. New London was a landmark in eminent domain law, paving the way for Pfizer to develop there. Four years later, Pfizer is pulling up stakes.

November 13, 2009 - The Hartford Courant

The Federal Housing Administration said today that its reserves are dwindling because of risky loans they insured and the drop in home prices.

November 13, 2009 - The New York Times

Urban designers Terri Chiao and Deborah Grossberg Katz take on the problem of homelessness in New York proactively, rather than waiting for RFPs to come in.

November 12, 2009 - Urban Omnibus

Neal Peirce says that there is finally light at the end of the tunnel in the debate over homelessness, and a consensus that stopgaps don't work. The real answer is to, duh, give them homes.

November 6, 2009 - Citiwire.net

Growth is at a standstill in most western boomtowns, but not in well-planned, thriving South Jordan, UT. An expedited permitting process and good planning are given credit as catalysts for growth.

November 5, 2009 - Desert News

November 5, 2009 - Peter Williams

Homeless people may avoid seeking help or services because there is a lack of space secure their belongings in shelters. The death of a homeless woman in Vancouver last winter highlights the severity of the problem.

November 4, 2009 - The Globe and Mail

The Seattle City Council has unanimously approved an ordinance that will allow owners of single family homes to construct additional cottage-like housing units on their property.

November 4, 2009 - The Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Business Week looks at the recovering housing market, and believes that even though it was driven by massive government support there are signs that it might actually continue.

October 31, 2009 - Business Week

British Columbia has converted nearly two dozen formerly notorious hotels into housing for the homeless.

October 30, 2009 - The Tyee

A collection of non-profits working with HUD is promising to spend $4 billion on updating affordable housing across the country to be more sustainable.

October 27, 2009 - Grist

GOOD Magazine highlights designer Michael McDaniel's Reaction Housing System, a temporary shelter that can be stacked up and loaded onto a flatbed 20 at a time.

October 27, 2009 - GOOD Magazine

2009 is expected to turn out as a bad year for residential constructoin in New York City. After five consecutive years with more than 30,000 units constructed, at total of 6,300 are expected this year.

October 26, 2009 - The New York Times

The United Nations has appointed a special envoy to evaluate whether lack of access to affordable housing in New York is so bad it violates basic human rights.

October 25, 2009 - The New York Times

Cohousing, which is cooperatively-managed but independently-owned housing, is gaining popularity in the Northwest. A new cohousing project in Portland just opened its doors last weekend.

October 22, 2009 - Northwest Hub

A new report shows a dramatic trend in homelessness: increasing numbers of former homeowners left with nowhere to live after foreclosure are turning to homeless shelters.

October 21, 2009 - The New York Times

Housing development, architecture and community building have found a new learning lab in the lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans.

October 19, 2009 - The Atlantic

Foreclosed homes in Phoenix are a new goldmine for one developer, who is buying up land near the city's mass transit lines and marketing properties as transit oriented development.

October 17, 2009 - NPR