Kirk Johnson chronicles the nonprofit housing builder's move into larger-scale housing development in Oregon, as it takes advantage of the depressed real estate market, and the kindness of donors.
Although "Across most of the nation, one-at-a-time houses,
financed by church suppers and staffed by volunteer hammer-swingers, are
still the norm for Habitat," as the first phase of the group's largest project in Oregon
history opens this spring on
Portland's east side, Johnson explores the tactical shifts taking place in branches across the country.
"Other Habitat branches have also pivoted in the recession, trying
different angles in a dark time. In Nevada and Florida, for example,
some Habitat groups stopped new construction entirely and shifted to
renovation, buying abandoned properties in cities racked by high
foreclosure rates."
"Business leaders and housing experts said that Portland - partly
through Habitat's timing in betting big in a down market, partly through
a donor network led by Mr. Gray that stepped up to help even as
corporate support mostly collapsed - is creating something that will
resonate long after the recession: Habitat neighborhoods."
FULL STORY: Habitat for Humanity Tries Big-Scale Approach to Housing in Oregon

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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.
Village of Glen Ellyn
Central Transportation Planning Staff/Boston Region MPO
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
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City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions