Why should the big spenders have a monopoly on architecturally distinctive dwellings?
Architects and developers of affordable housing, with the help of city planners, are beginning to inject more imagination and innovation into the design for modest homes.
In the greater Milwaukee area, a partnership between the American Institute of Architects’ Wisconsin’s southeast chapter and architecture students at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee is reinventing residential design in the lower price points, producing drawings for three modernist homes will sell for about $150,000. Students will design 1,400 square-foot infill homes for vacant lots in central city neighborhoods in Milwaukee, Racine, and Waukesha.
The local Habitat for Humanity is adding more sensitively designed roofs, windows and porches to its standard house design that will be part of 22 new units this year. And the city of Milwaukee promises to streamline approval for proposals for affordable housing to go on city-owned land that adhere to prototypes of modernist and neo-traditional designs.
FULL STORY: Architects show modest budgets don't require modest design
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
San Francisco's School District Spent $105M To Build Affordable Housing for Teachers — And That's Just the Beginning
SFUSD joins a growing list of school districts using their land holdings to address housing affordability challenges faced by their own employees.
Can We Please Give Communities the Design They Deserve?
Often an afterthought, graphic design impacts everything from how we navigate a city to how we feel about it. One designer argues: the people deserve better.
The EV “Charging Divide” Plaguing Rural America
With “the deck stacked” against rural areas, will the great electric American road trip ever be a reality?
Judge Halts Brooklyn Bike Lane Removal
Lawyers must prove the city was not acting “arbitrarily, capriciously, and illegally” in ordering the hasty removal.
Engineers Gave America's Roads an Almost Failing Grade — Why Aren't We Fixing Them?
With over a trillion dollars spent on roads that are still falling apart, advocates propose a new “fix it first” framework.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
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Planning for Universal Design
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Smith Gee Studio
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
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Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
Municipality of Princeton (NJ)