Architect Roger K. Lewis writes in The Washington Post that it is nearly impossible for a family with school-age children to find a suitable apartment in the city, even if that is the way they'd prefer to live.
Lewis writes that "...in plans for new transit-oriented communities, most of the housing envisioned consists of apartment buildings or attached dwellings in which families with school-age children are unlikely to live. In fact such plans are often predicated on a simple fiscal principle: By serving a population with few school-age children, the need for building additional schools is minimal, thereby ensuring that future growth will yield tax-revenue benefits for jurisdictions where transit-oriented communities are located.
Accordingly, housing developers in smart-growth communities will be building few units for families with children."
FULL STORY: Family-size apartments in urban areas could help smart-growth communities
Maryland Awards $1.25M in TOD-Related Grants
The state’s DOT is funding projects that prepare sites around transit stations for future mixed-use development and housing.
The Natalist Case For Sprawl (And Why It Fails)
Some commentators defend anti-urban government policies such as exclusionary zoning on the basis that homeowning suburbanites have high birth rates. But this doesn't seem to be true in recent decades.
Honolulu's Iwilei Center Plans for Redevelopment Into Mixed-Use Space
Striving to expand affordable housing options for Oahu residents, Honolulu's Department of Land Management requests to redevelop the Iwilei Center into a mixed-use space.
Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly
Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
San Francisco Suspends Traffic Calming Amidst Record Deaths
Citing “a challenging fiscal landscape,” the city will cease the program on the heels of 42 traffic deaths, including 24 pedestrians.
Defunct Pittsburgh Power Plant to Become Residential Tower
A decommissioned steam heat plant will be redeveloped into almost 100 affordable housing units.
Trump Prompts Restructuring of Transportation Research Board in “Unprecedented Overreach”
The TRB has eliminated more than half of its committees including those focused on climate, equity, and cities.
Amtrak Rolls Out New Orleans to Alabama “Mardi Gras” Train
The new service will operate morning and evening departures between Mobile and New Orleans.
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.
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
JM Goldson LLC
Custer County Colorado
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Jefferson Parish Government
Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Claremont