Lansing officials approved a plan to purchase 50 modular micro-housing units as emergency shelter for the city’s unhoused residents.
Lansing, Michigan plans to install 50 modular micro-housing units in an effort to provide more emergency shelter for unhoused residents, reports Jordyn Hermani for the Associated Press. Lansing officials plan to identify a city-owned location for the shelters.
The city agreed to purchase 50 units from a project in Kalamazoo that never materialized. The 50 units, which are not approved for winter use, will cost $640,000 to buy and roughly $750,000 per year to maintain.
Lansing officials made the decision to purchase the pods in August after the city began cracking down on homeless encampments. The city expects the site, once selected, to be ready for occupancy by June 2026.
In a public meeting, some residents questioned the city’s plan for transitioning people out of the pods and into more secure, long-term housing. Deyanira Nevárez Martínez, an assistant professor at Michigan State and candidate for Lansing city council, pointed out the potential for a “slippery slope” to communities viewing modular micro-housing as a solution, not a temporary stopgap, for homelessness.
Read the full story: Michigan’s capital plans new approach to homelessness: A pod city
Oakland Mayor, City Council Offer ‘Radically Different’ Plans for Reducing Homelessness
Mayor Barbara Lee wants to reduce encampment sweeps and focus on improving sanitation while city council members want to increase enforcement, particularly against illegally parked RVs.
Utah Shelter Plan Criticized as ‘Homeless Detention Camp’
A proposal to build a 1,300-bed shelter campus faces backlash from advocates concerned that it would be akin to a detention center.
The 120 Year Old Tiny Home Villages That Sheltered San Francisco’s Earthquake Refugees
More than a century ago, San Francisco mobilized to house thousands of residents displaced by the 1906 earthquake. Could their strategy offer a model for the present?
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Chicago breaks ground on $3 billion megadevelopment
The new neighborhood, titled Foundry Park, will one day host 3,700 residences.
California High-Speed Rail Authority CEO resigns after $600,000 scandal
Under Ian Choudri, the authority used taxpayer dollars to fund first class flights and trips to nightclubs.
Want to study the Missouri River? Soon, you may need unanimous approval from 10 states
Legislation would require 10 governors’ permission to study or build projects moving water outside the basin.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
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
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority