Housing
Prefab for Vancouver's Homeless
The city council of Vancouver is supporting the creation of 550 temporary homes, including some prefab, to house the area's homeless.
Thirteen Strategies for Sustainability
How is Kansas City to make itself sustainable? This blog offers 13 strategies, one posted a day, from experts in different fields.
What’s in Store for the New HUD Secretary?
Shaun Donovan wants HUD to catalyze shifts in American urban planning, one community at a time. A look at the optimistic HUD secretary, who has been given the task of fixing the housing market—and making over a broken government agency.
LA Buys its Foreclosed Homes to Refurbish and Resell
Los Angeles has begun using its $33 million in funds from the Neighborhood Stabilization Program to jumpstart neighborhoods blighted by foreclosure. HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan visited a South Los Angeles neighborhood Wednesday.
Tent Cities As 'Informal Urbanism'
High Country News reports on Fresno's infamous Taco Flat in this 4-pager. Seattle's Nickelsville and Portland's Dignity Village are held up as better examples of squatter settlements. Architecture and 'informal urbanism' of tent cities is examined.
Homelessness on the Rise
The results from a nationwide homelessness count submitted to HUD in January reveal that many cities are showing a dramatic surge in the need for services to the homeless.
Can Older Houses be Energy Efficient?
We don't need to build new energy efficient homes as much as we need to refurbish the existing housing stock to make it more energy efficient, writes Richard Moe of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Banks Abandoning Foreclosed Homes
In cities across the country, banks are ditching out on foreclosed homes, giving more worries -- and bills -- to homeowners.
The End Of San Francisco's High-Rise Housing Boom
A prominent developer predicts that all hi-rise housing will cease in the San Francisco due to the credit crisis. The result, says an urban think tank director, will be more sprawl development in the Bay Area as it presents the least financial risk.
Florida's 'Trickle-Down' Condo Disaster
Florida's real estate meltdown is leading to a second crisis: so many condo owners have stopped paying their fees that associations have had to cut back on maintenance and repairs, leading some to fear a "death spiral" for condos.
Planning for Spontaneity
According to this opinion piece, planners must ease up on "big bang" planning--an approach centered around sweeping changes with fixed ideas of what the outcome must look like.
Affordable Housing Gets $32 Million
The MacArthur Foundation has announced it will give $32 million in grants and loans to preserve and create affordable public housing through HUD, in addition to the $4 billion allotted to the agency from the stimulus bill.
Exurbs, the New Rentals
In many areas, housing on the suburban fringe has gone rental. The shift indicates mobility on the part of renters who want to stay put, but could also be a precursor for a low-income future for the exurbs.
Where California's Foreclosure Hot Spots Went Wrong
This piece form the Modesto Bee looks at the growth and housing bust that has dramatically affected California's San Joaquin Valley -- home to some of the nation's highest rates of foreclosure.
No Ground-Floor Garages ... Except This One
Despite advocating for an end to ground-floor garages, a neighborhood group in Philadelphia is now asking for an exemption to the rule it wrote against them.
Growth Estimates Predict 300,000 More Households in Portland Region by 2030
Population estimates mean that the Portland region will need about 300,000 additional homes by 2030. Where they should all go is up for debate.
Brookings to Congress: Integrate Housing and Transportation Planning
In this testimonial to Congress, the Brookings Institution's Robert Puentes argues that housing and transportation are irreversibly linked and that, in the face of the current recession, more integrated planning is needed.
What Can Cities Do About 'Property Outlaws'?
More homeless people are squatting in abandoned suburban housing. Eduardo M. Peñalver, co-author of the forthcoming book "Property Outlaws" thinks cities should acquire these properties and allow the former owners to live in them as renters.
Shantytowns, USA
The economic crisis is leading to a surge in homelessness and the growth of tent cities in many U.S. cities.
"Land of Extremes" Feels the Hurt
California's Inland Empire's status as one of the nation's leader in foreclosures has fleeing retail as proof of it. This article offers a glimpse in this "land of extremes."
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Appalachian Highlands Housing Partners
Gallatin County Department of Planning & Community Development
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
Mpact (founded as Rail~Volution)
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
City of Portland
City of Laramie
