Housing
Portland Looks To Save Low Income Housing
Federal Section 8 subsidies are set to expire for nearly 1,000 units of low income housing in Portland between December and 2013. Officials are looking to partner with private and non-profit groups to buy the housing before owners can raise rents.
Is Regulating Housing Facades A Civil Rights Issue?
Several communities have used ordinances to favor masonry over vinyl siding, but the practice is being challenged by a lawsuit arguing that the added cost prices out low-income minorities.
The Modern Duplex
With more homeowners looking for creative ways to finance their home or house relatives, Los Angeles is experiencing a revival of interest in duplexes.
Atlanta Swelling With Coastal Florida Expatriates
Fear of hurricanes, high housing costs, and prohibitive insurance premiums are driving coastal Florida residents north to Atlanta. Real estate agents and developers are happy, but the region is already strained by growth.
Look At Houston In A Different Light, Argues Kotkin
Often maligned by by most planners and urbanists, the City of Houston, Texas, receives a glowing defense from Joel Kotkin.
Making The Case For Accessory Units In Denver
With the city's zoning code set to be updated, one expert urges Denver to allow the construction of granny flats to provide housing and generate rental income for families.
The Housing Facade Is Just A Facade
This column bemoans the stark architectural differences between the insides and outsides of suburban houses.
The New Face Of Public Housing
A formerly crime-ridden public housing project has been redeveloped as a HUD Hope VI project. Many see as a successful turnaround, bringing in subsidized renters and buyers as well as market-rate homeowners.
Minneapolis Looks To Crack Down On McMansions
The Minneapolis City Council has proposed measures that would limit the size of new houses in the city -- a move targeting oversized 'McMansion' homes that already account for about 1% of the housing stock.
Musician's Village Rises In New Orleans
Successful recording artists Harry Connick Jr. and Branford Marsalis teamed up with Habitat for Humanity to develop a neighborhood specifically for the city's musicians.
How A Blighted Downtown Is Resurrected
Once-blighted areas of downtown Louisville, Kentucky, have seen huge increases in development and property values recently -- a trend many attribute to public initiatives that encourage private investors. But other factors are also causing the boom.
Lack Of Affordable Housing Hits Migrant Workers Hardest
A high supply of jobs is bringing large amounts of migrant workers into the Pacific Northwest. But few affordable housing options exist, leaving many with no place to go.
Urban Green Space Threatened By Higher Density?
New regulations requiring higher density housing have some worried about the threat to urban green space in the UK.
Historic Designations Hindering New Orleans Rebuilding
As low-income residents in New Orleans begin to rebuild their homes, historic regulations are disrupting the process and driving up costs.
Mickey Mouse's Idea Of Planning
California Planning & Development Report columnist Morris Newman doesn't think much of the Disney Company's attempts to prevent housing development in Anaheim's resort district.
Baltimore Passes Inclusionary Housing Bill
The Baltimore City Council has approved an inclusionary housing bill requiring developers to designate a certain portion of new developments as affordable. Proponents say the measure is flawed, but a good first step.
Housing Developers Breathe Neighborhood Into Downtown Boise
With a number of large-scale condo and apartment developments planned for downtown Boise, seven developers are transforming the formerly vacant downtown into a vibrant neighborhood.
The Housing Bubble and the Baby Boomers
The troubling ratio of mortgage debt to housing value is going to pose a problem for millions of baby boomers, who are set to retire with almost no equity, according to Dean Baker of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, D.C.
Affordable Housing Planned For Depressed Suburb
In the depressed Chicago suburb of Robbins, developers have joined forces to provide 800 affordably-priced houses over the next 5 years.
China's Pre-Olympic Clean-Up Creates Slums
In preparation for the 2008 Olympics, Beijing and other Chinese cities have taken measures to clean up their "urban villages", demolishing homes and displacing thousands of poor migrants, which has resulted in the creation of many slums.
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.
New York City School Construction Authority
Village of Glen Ellyn
Central Transportation Planning Staff/Boston Region MPO
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
