Housing

Changing Preferences for Aging Boomers

A survey of Baby Boomers finds an increasing willingness to move after retirement, and the new tipping point for "old age".

February 5, 2010 - Builder

Air Force Quashes Unborn NIMBYism in Arizona

As a preventive measure to avoid future NIMBYism, an Air Force base in Arizona has effectively blocked the spread of residential development close to its borders.

February 4, 2010 - The Arizona Republic

The Right Interventions to Restore Confidence in Weak Markets

Housing affordability is too often seen as the way to stabilize and revitalize weak markets. Neighborhood planning consultants Charles Buki and Elizabeth Humphrey Schilling argue that interventions in weak markets must encourage investment by improving market confidence.

February 4, 2010 - Charles Buki

Habitat for Humanity Embraces Density

Instead of building its signature single family homes in dense New York neighborhoods, Habitat is expanding its model to include LEED-certified apartment buildings.

February 4, 2010 - New York Times

Bailing Out the Mortgage Market

The housing market -- and especially the exurban housing market -- played a major role in bringing about the current economic recession, according to this piece from Christopher Leinberger. He says sprawl is unlikely to regain its lost value.

January 28, 2010 - The New Republic

Notes on Structural Change: Redefining the Problem of Weak Markets

The foreclosure crisis spreading across America has burdened cities and neighborhoods with value-draining vacancies and abandoned properties. To counteract the economic havoc they've caused, planners and policymakers must focus on restoring confidence in the market, according to neighborhood planning consultants Charles Buki and Elizabeth Humphrey Schilling.

January 28, 2010 - Charles Buki

Americans Moving Less, Getting Rooted

In the 1950s, nearly 1/5 of Americans moved each year. That trend is quickly reversing. Americans are now staying put in greater numbers than at any time since World War II, and experts have plenty of opinions on why that is.

January 28, 2010 - New York Times

Tent Handouts Hope to Provide Shelter and Spotlight in Vancouver

A human rights group in Vancouver is hoping to distribute free tents to the city's homeless in an attempt to temporarily shelter the homeless and bring attention to the city's homelessness when it plays host to the Winter Olympics.

January 27, 2010 - The Tyee

An Oasis of Safety in One of L.A.'s Toughest Neighborhoods

In the midst of a dangerous and crime-prone area, one small section of L.A.'s South central neighborhood has retained a lower-than-average homicide rate and higher-than-average property values.

January 27, 2010 - Los Angeles Times

The Density Game - On YouTube

Dan Zack, downtown development coordinator for Redwood City, CA, gave a 50-minute presentation on Delightful Density to a Palo Alto audience on Nov. 5. This 12-minute excerpt is composed of 17 buildings - get out your pencils and guess their density.

January 24, 2010 - YouTube

New Urbanism in Abu Dhabi

While Dubai's fantastical Burj Khalifa is mostly empty and development has ground to a halt, Abu Dhabi continues to develop - and smartly, says Philip Langdon.

January 21, 2010 - New Urban News

Brazilians Reinterpret Their Living Spaces

In this paper, Gustavo Rivera Jr. (Ph. D. candidate in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Chicago) evaluates the economic and sociocultural impact of recently developed public housing estates within the favelas of Belo Horizonte.

January 18, 2010 - The Urban Reinventors Online Urban Journal

How The Housing Bubble Affected Demographics

Economist Edward L. Glaeser takes a look at how the housing bubble has affected changing populations in the Sun Belt.

January 16, 2010 - The New York Times

A Suburban Bird's Eye View

Metropolis presents a slideshow of photographs by artist Christoph Gielen, who photographs suburban developments from a helicopter.

January 16, 2010 - Metropolis

Why is Prefab Impossible to Get Built?

A new study out in JAPA this week details the fire codes, zoning codes, subdivision regulations, etc., that prevent manufactured housing from being built.

January 14, 2010 - Journal Of The American Planning Association

2000 - 2009: The Decade in Planning

The editors' choice of the most significant stories in the realm of urban planning, design and development of the "aughts" (2000-2009). The decade began with one crash and ended with another, but in between we've learned a lot about making cities.

January 11, 2010 - Nate Berg

What is the New "Normal" in Housing Prices?

Ed Glaeser argues that housing needs to be viewed as a commodity like any other, rather than an investment.

January 10, 2010 - Economix Blog

Black Majority Fades in Harlem

Once the Capital of Black America, Harlem is undergoing a population shift that is taking blacks out of the majority.

January 7, 2010 - The New York Times

Federal Foreclosure Prevention Plan Shows Underwhelming Numbers

A federal plan aimed at helping 3 to 4 million homeowners on the verge of foreclosure has fallen far short of expectations, enabling only about 31,000 loan modifications.

January 6, 2010 - The Washington Independent

NYT on Housing: "Things Didn't Have to Get this Bad"

This New York Times editorial argues that the present strategy to fix the housing mess isn't working; real relief in the form of principal reduction is needed.

January 5, 2010 - New York Times

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.

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.