Housing
Considering the Cottages' Permanence
The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency is offering Katrina cottage dwellers the chance to buy up their units. But will these "shotgun shacks" ever be considered legitimate homes?
Zoning Update in Oakland?
An antiquated set of zoning laws has been at the heart of a debate between preservationists and developers in Oakland for years, though a compromise in the form of new zoning rules may be in the city's near future.
Urban Infill Inevitable, Says ULI Leader
William Hudnet, former mayor of Indianapolis, now with ULI, spoke at a gathering in Sacramento on the inevitable wave of urban infill, less auto-dependent development to come due to state climate protection laws AB 32 and SB 375, and regional plans.
One in Nine U.S. Homes Empty
Empty homes are littered in cities across the country. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, one out of every nine U.S. homes is unoccupied.
Housing Slump Hits Manhattan
Though typically a strong and steady market, falling condo sales indicate that the housing slump has moved into Manhattan.
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.
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
