Housing

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

Have you ever thought those teensy 400 square foot NYC apartments were just too darn big? If so, you and Mayor Bloomberg have something in common, as yesterday the city launched an initiative to develop a new model of tiny, but affordable, housing.

July 10, 2012 - The New York Observer

Curtis Johnson details an unexpected trend in downtown Motor City, where a spike in housing demand may hint at the comeback promised in Chrysler's famed Superbowl ad.

July 7, 2012 - Citiwire

Julie Stern reports on a presentation by NYU professor Eric Klinenberg, who says that the number of people living by themselves in the United States is growing and is having an impact on city life.

July 6, 2012 - Urban Land

Apartments are scooped minutes after being placed on Craigslist, waiting lines form at open houses, rents are rising. San Francisco? Not quite, but with developers rising to the occasion with 5,000 units in construction, growth may be sustainable.

July 5, 2012 - The Columbus Dispatch

Singapore has a robust public housing program, which comes from the government operating 80% of the housing stock. Neal Peirce spells out how the system works.

July 4, 2012 - The Citistates Group

Stephen Smith points to new economic research highlighting the dramatic effect of rent control on the value of nearby properties. Hint: it keeps prices down everywhere.

July 3, 2012 - Market Urbanism

A new report by Oakland, CA nonprofit Urban Strategies Council reveals that a massive surge has occurred in investor-speculator ownership in the city's low-income neighborhoods in the wake of the foreclosure crisis.

July 2, 2012 - InfoAlamedaCounty.org

A decade after Mayor Williams helped inspire a revitalization strategy for Washington, DC's H Street, the formerly downtrodden neighborhood is bustling and ready for the crowning touch - a $13m streetcar system.

July 2, 2012 - Financial Times

Jessica Reeder examines new methods of "coliving" cropping up in the Internet age, including the repurposing of McMansions into shared living for singles.

July 2, 2012 - Shareable

After seizing control of a condo association, a Pennsylvania developer has forced 11 homeowners to sell their units for as little as a third of their appraised value, leaving them stranded with crippling mortgages, Teke Wiggin reports.

June 30, 2012 - AOL Real Estate

Richey Piiparinen says that in one obvious way, gentrification isn't a problem in the Rust Belt (that being housing prices, which are comfortably low pretty much everywhere). A true intermingling of racial and ethnic groups is happening, he argues.

June 27, 2012 - RustWire

Architect Ray Gindroz says that a perfect storm of factors - economic change, crushing policy decisions, and over-reaching ambition - brought about the disaster of public housing in the U.S. like Pruitt-Igoe.

June 25, 2012 - Better! Cities & Towns

Mixed-income housing - infusing affordable housing with market-rate units - is relying more on incentives and subsidies, than mandates, to stimulate development.

June 21, 2012 - Urban Land

Young, educated city natives are being forced to pit their financial needs against their geographic desires in a battle against gentrification.

June 20, 2012 - The Atlantic Cities

Recent studies on older generations' dwelling and travel patterns show that urban areas may provide more mobility and independence than suburban areas with less access to public transit.

June 19, 2012 - MinnPost