Housing
Protecting The Open Spaces of Cascadia
Forest land and open space have been steadily gobbled up by development in the Pacific Northwest. A new initiative in Washington seeks to relocate some of developers' planned greenfield housing into cities.
Sustainable and Obtainable
A new sustainable housing development breaking ground in Oregon has put affordability on the same pedestal as sustainability.
Cities Shrinking to Survive
"More cities in the developed world shrank than grew in the last three decades. More than 40 of those cities were in the United States, according to City Mayors, an urban affairs think tank," writes Gordon Young.
South Korea's City of The Future
Being developed on 1500 acres of Incheon's waterfront, Songdo is a completely planned city harnessing the latest innovations in green technology and planning doctrine aimed at creating a sustainable, self contained 'city of the future.'
Brownfield Approved For Huge, Controversial Mixed-Use Redevelopment
By an 8-3 vote at 1:35 AM, July 14, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved a plan to add 10,500 homes (32% affordable) on a 720-acre brownfield site known as Hunters Point, a former shipyard, including 320 acres of parkland and open space.
Air Conditioning and Community
A new book looks at the environmental, energy, and social consequences of keeping cool by using air conditioners. In this 4-minute public radio interview, author Stan Cox explains how to keep cool, just in time for the East Coast heat wave.
Walking's Role in Home Buying Decisions
How walkable neighborhoods are is playing an increasingly important role in decisions about where to buy homes.
Mixed Use Outperforms Big Box Development
Tax revenue-per-acre figures for big box developments are only slightly higher than residential developments, and not as high as mixed use project, according to this column from Mary Newsom.
Small Cities Fill CNN's 'Best Places to Live'
Apparently metropolises are out- CNN Money's annual list of the "Best Places to Live" is filled with small cities like Eden Prairie, Minnesota and Overland Park, Kansas.
New Development: Always a Good Sign?
Dan Rodricks has been reading a lot of "good news" about new residential building permits being taken out around Baltimore, and questions whether new development is always a good sign.
Foreclosure Rate Highest Among Wealthy
What's not known is how many of the homes are investments, or primary or secondary residences, but it's clear that the foreclosure rate for mortgages exceeding $1million is higher than for lower priced homes, according to the New York Times analysis.
Obama Announces New Urban Policy to Shelter 1.6 Million Homeless
A total of 1.6 million people experienced homelessness last year alone. President Obama has decided to attempt to remedy this sobering fact with the new Interagency Council on Homelessness' (USICH) "Opening Doors" plan.
Calculating the Decision: House or Apartment?
The New York Times calculates the cost difference between living in a single family house versus an apartment in the New York area.
Shanghai's Faux World Cities Fail to Catch On
A decade after its inception, Shanghai's One City, Nine Towns project, an ambitious attempt to manage the city's massive population growth via the creation of international-themed satellite communities, has failed to deliver hoped-for results.
Villaraigosa Must Back His New Planner With Comprehensive Reorganization
Mayor Villaraigosa must appoint a planning director who will overcome the sprawling bureaucracy that has hindered much of the LA's endeavors, says the Los Angeles Times.
Questions of Relocation in Rio's Unstable Favelas
Mudslides and unstable housing are common in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro where officials are trying to get people to relocate to safer areas.
Kotkin Takes Aim at Urbanists
Naming Richard Florida, Carol Coletta and ULI as pro-urban forces, Joel Kotkin accuses them of having "wishful thinking" in regards to the back-to-the-city movement. Kotkin says people want single-family homes, not condos.
Home Building and Sales Down
New figures from the National Association of Realtors show that the number of new homes being built and the number of homes being sold were both down during May.
China's Drive Toward Carbon Neutrality
By 2030, China will have 220 cities containing a population of 1 million or more, 24 of which will be megacities. The boom China is expected to go through, 'boggles the imagination of North Americans and Europeans.'
Decline and Despair in Exurbia
This story from the Los Angeles Times looks at the downfall of exurban growth in the High Desert of Southern California, and the families caught in the downfall.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
