Housing
Home Loan Program Fueled Foreclosure Boom in Cleveland
In trying to turn people into homeowners, the city of Cleveland's participation in a federally-funded home loan program greatly exacerbated its foreclosure crisis.
Second Record Year for Foreclosures
By the end of the year, more than 3.9 million homes will have been foreclosed in the U.S., the second year in a row that figures have broken previous records.
Moving Up to a Rental
Former homeowners forced out of their houses are becoming renters. It seems to be a good thing for them -- and the economy.
Four-Year Vacancies in NYC?
The New York City Housing Authority has come under fire because thousands of affordable rental units are sitting vacant, some for years at a time.
130,000 Homeless Veterans
This article, by Dr. Ellen Bassuk of the National Center on Family Homelessness, explores the challenges faced by returning veterans in housing.
Property Values Not Hurt By Proximity to Wind Turbines
According to a new report from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the proximity of homes to wind turbines showed no average negative impact on property values.
Can Homeowners "Save the Dream"?
Andy Kroll wanders through the rubble of California's subprime crisis and finds homeowners waiting 10-12 hours in lines for mortgage relief, plummeting property values, and what may be the seeds of more foreclosures to come.
Affordable Housing Laws At Risk in CA
The California Supreme Court has refused to re-hear a decision made by a lower court on affordable housing requirements, which may make such requirements throughout the state invalid.
Redeveloping Open Space to Revive Housing Projects
Public housing projects have been a thorn in the paw of New York City for years. The city is trying to figure out what to do with the perennially problem-plagued housing projects. Some groups say redevelopment is the answer.
Front Yards Are For Lawns, Not Cars, City Says
Queens and Brooklyn homeowners may soon be prohibited from converting front yards into parking pads if a set of regulations is approved. The loss of street parking from new curb cuts was cited as a reason, along with aesthetics.
Living in 100 Square Feet
Photographer Michael Wolf visited Hong Kong's oldest public housing estate, and photographed 100 of the 100 ft. square rooms in the building.
Suburbs See Rise in Kids in Poverty
2008 Census estimates reveal that in the city center of Fort Worth, Texas, the number of school-age children living in poverty has dropped whereas the surrounding suburban communities have seen increasing numbers.
Huge San Francisco Redevelopment Project Underway
It's the largest redevelopment project since the great earthquake of 1906: 702 acres, 10,500 residential units, a shipyard brownfield cleanup, and a new stadium (hopefully) for the 49ers. The Environmental Impact Report has just been released.
The Remarkable Rezoning of NYC
Recently the NYC Planning Dept. announced its 100th rezoning since Bloomberg took office. This article takes a spin through the city's remarkable shift in the last 50 years away from industry to business and tourism and a sustainable approach.
Extreme Makeover Makeover in Buffalo
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.
Reconsidering the McMansion Business
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.
New London, Four Years After Kelo
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.
FHA Feeling the Pinch
The Federal Housing Administration said today that its reserves are dwindling because of risky loans they insured and the drop in home prices.
Can Homelessness be Designed Out?
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.
The Solution for Homelessness? Homes.
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.
Pagination
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.
KFH Group Inc.
Greater Baltimore Committee
Eagle County Government
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello