As housing prices increase on the post-recession wave, many experts are asking people to reconsider the dream of buying and owning a home, especially if that means sinking too deeply in debt or sacrificing mobility.
Alison Smith writes a cost-benefits analysis of home ownership in the current Canadian experience, where “[in] little more than a decade, the average house price in Canada has more than doubled, outpacing inflation and incomes.” The question is whether houses are still the dream investment they used to be, especially since so many people are so deeply invested in the idea: “Some Canadians are spending as much as 50 per cent of their income on mortgage payments.”
Smith cites David Chilton author of the Wealthy Barber, who asks consumers to think more modestly: “My argument has always been a more modest home is a better way to live…You're not stressed about your financial future. You have enough money flowing through to save."
FULL STORY: Rethinking the home ownership dream
Depopulation Patterns Get Weird
A recent ranking of “declining” cities heavily features some of the most expensive cities in the country — including New York City and a half-dozen in the San Francisco Bay Area.
California Exodus: Population Drops Below 39 Million
Never mind the 40 million that demographers predicted the Golden State would reach by 2018. The state's population dipped below 39 million to 38.965 million last July, according to Census data released in March, the lowest since 2015.
Chicago to Turn High-Rise Offices into Housing
Four commercial buildings in the Chicago Loop have been approved for redevelopment into housing in a bid to revitalize the city’s downtown post-pandemic.
EV Infrastructure Booming in Suburbs, Cities Lag Behind
A lack of access to charging infrastructure is holding back EV adoption in many US cities.
Seattle Road Safety Advocates Say Transportation Levy Perpetuates Car-Centric Status Quo
Critics of a proposed $1.3 billion transportation levy say the package isn’t enough to keep up with inflation and rising costs and fails to support a shift away from car-oriented infrastructure.
Appeals Court: California Emissions Standards Upheld
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board, the nation's two most powerful environmental regulatory agencies, won an important round in federal court last week. But the emissions standards battle may not be over.
Barrett Planning Group LLC
City of Cleburne
KTUA Planning and Landscape Architecture
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
City of Laramie, Wyoming
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.