Housing
For FEMA, The Katrina Cottage Is A No Go
The price of building and delivering a FEMA trailer is $75,000. Building a Katrina Cottage costs $60,000. While the safety and aesthetics of the former are questionable, the latter is designed to withstand hurricane force winds. What's the problem?
Maryland's Housing Crisis
According to recent studies, homeownership is out of the question for many Marylanders; the Governor's Task Force on Workforce Housing looks for solutions.
The Impossible American Dream
A Baltimore Sun study finds that a first-time home buyer would have to spend 71 percent of his or her income toward monthly mortgage payments.
What It Takes To Go Green
From countertops made of recycled paper to bamboo floors, learn from one couple who made their eco-friendly dream house.
The Politics of Gentrification
The redevelopment of Houston from four perspectives: the developer, the artist, the power broker, and the former mayor.
Bush's 10-Year Plan To End Homelessness Underfunded
The administration espouses a 'Housing First' approach, yet cities lack the resources necessary for implementation.
Would Market-Rate Housing Moratorium Slow Gentrification?
No, according to an op-ed in the San Francisco Bay Guardian, which lists alternative strategies for preserving affordable housing.
The Kids Of L.A.'s Skid Row
Hundreds of children are growing up in an area Police Chief Bratton refers to as the biggest social disaster in America.
New York Completes Fourth Annual Homeless Census
Volunteers work from midnight to four in the morning in the bitter cold to find the maximum number of street dwellers.
Large Foreclosure Increase Linked To Risky Borrowing
A new study shows that the number of households entering some stage of foreclosure is up 45% over this time last year -- one for every 1,117 U.S. households.
China's Housing Boom Fizzles
Home sales have come to a near standstill in Shanghai, whose 20 million residents account for two percent of China's population, but 20 percent of the country's property value.
Moving Back To SoCal: Easier Said Than Done
Many Southern Californians find the grass isn't greener elsewhere, and the very housing market they cashed in on to finance an out-of-state move is now making a return back home much more difficult.
How To Make Gentrification Work
A recent controversy in Montreal might shed light on how to tame gentrification.
Here Comes The Real Estate Boom
Gila Bend, 60 miles from downtown Phoenix, doesn't have much of anything -- except low real estate prices, which could mean it could get a lot more real soon.
Still Slumming
The D.C. U.S. Attorney's Office proudly details success stories from cleaning up "nuisance properties" -- including crack houses -- on its website. But the results are mixed, at best.
Study: State Anti-Predatory Lending Laws Successful
A study of 5 million home loans made from 1998 to 2000 shows that state laws save homeowners billions of dollars each year.
First McMansions, Now McLofts
A deluxe imitation of the urban loft is coming to a suburb near you.
More Funding For Cabrini Green Housing Reconstruction
Slowly but surely, the Chicago Public Housing Authority continues fundraising, demolition, and reconstruction at the infamous public housing project.
Then: Seat Belts; Now: Home Sprinkler Systems
Proponents argue that sprinklers should be mandatory for all new single-family homes, and predict a revolution in consumer safety.
'Planet of Slums'
Mike Davis previews his new book in a lengthy article in Orion Magazine.
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
