Affordability Crisis

Screenshot of an affordable housing platform with black background and apartment listings

NYC Teenagers Launch Affordable Housing Portal so Good, it has Attracted Investment

Seeing the failure of the grown-ups who run the city to provide people a way to find affordable housing, two “children of the pandemic” stepped up.

December 1, 2025 - New York Times

Power plant with palm trees in foreground in California.

Even in California, Energy Affordability Trumps the Environment

A Democratic senator proposes to relax vehicle emissions standards in order to increase the supply of gasoline as the state's oil refinery capacity decreases, thus mitigating increases in gasoline prices in the state with the highest fuel prices.

August 1, 2025 - CBS Sacramento

Front view of stone home with severe tornado damage and portions of roof ripped off.

10 States Where Insurance Costs Impact Housing Affordability

Insurance companies are responding to the increasing frequency and intensity of severe weather events caused by climate change by raising home insurance premiums in high-risk states, adding another hurdle to housing affordability in the U.S.

February 26, 2024 - Fox Business

Aerial view of large homes surrounded by mature trees with Lake MIchigan shoreline at left.

Investors Snapping Up Record-High Number of Affordable Homes

High interest rates and record-high prices are driving investors to focus on homes in the lower price tier, exacerbating inventory shortages and pushing regular home buyers out of the market.

February 25, 2024 - Yahoo Finance

Coronavirus

Rent Control Buckling Under Market Pressure, Sweden Increases Development

A housing affordability case study, provided by the unique housing policies in the country of Sweden.

August 26, 2021 - BBC

Building Trades

New Market-Rate Housing Lowers Rents for Everyone, According to New Research

A study published by a German researcher adds ammunition to the cause of improving housing affordability by legalizing and building new supply.

December 15, 2020 - City Observatory

Free Street

On Rent Control and a Green New Deal, Portland, Maine Voters Go Where Others Don't Dare

Rent control was dealt another high-profile setback in California, and the Green New Deal is a hot button issue stuck in limbo in Congress. Both efforts got the go-ahead from voters in Portland, Maine in November.

December 1, 2020 - Next City

Housing protest

Lessons From Rent Control's Latest Election Rejection

California voters, with a reputation for liberal politics, have repeatedly refused to approve statewide rent control laws at the ballot box.

November 12, 2020 - Los Angeles Times

Resilient Home

New Collaborations for Land Banks and Community Land Trusts

Land banks and community land trusts are finding new ways to work together in light of the ongoing housing affordability crisis and the new economic pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic.

November 4, 2020 - Land Lines

Downtown Los Angeles

'The Affordable City' Offers Solutions for the U.S. Housing Affordability Crisis

An excerpt from the new book by Shane Phillips, "The Affordable City," published by Island Press.

October 21, 2020 - Shane Phillips

Chicago, Illinois

A Pro-Development Approach to Housing Affordability and Economic Growth

Decades of building housing on the fringes of metropolitan areas have mired the United States in a housing affordability crisis defined by a widening gap between the haves and the have nots.

October 6, 2020 - Vox

Car Traffic

How the Pandemic Has Magnified the Pre-Existing Housing Crisis

Declining rents won't be a silver lining in the post-pandemic housing crisis.

September 8, 2020 - Citymetric

San Francisco

More Housing Could Increase Affordability If You Build It in the Right Places

Focusing on zoning in hot-market urban centers misses economic realities—and major opportunities.

June 25, 2020 - Shelterforce Magazine

Yonkers

APA Lists Recommendations for State Housing Policy

In attendance this week at the National Conference of State Legislatures, the American Planning Association has announced its intentions to lobby attendees on housing policy.

August 7, 2019 - American Planning Association

Democratic Debate

Dems Debated in the Perfect Place to Talk About Cities, But Didn't Talk About Cities

An opportunity missed in Detroit.

August 6, 2019 - Detroit Free Press

SoHo Greenwich New York

Conflicting Interests and a Broken Planning System

A scathing critique of city planning, and the special interests that hold the system in thrall, in New York City.

August 6, 2019 - Gotham Gazette

Suburban California

A Call for Action as Construction Slows in California

An editorial by the Los Angeles Times calls for the state to remove barriers to housing shortage after a report finds declining numbers of residential permits around the state.

August 6, 2019 - Los Angeles Times

Boston COnstruction

2.5 New Jobs for Every New Home in Boston

The Boston region has achieved a jobs-housing imbalance only bested by the San Francisco Bay Area since the Great Recession.

August 1, 2019 - The Boston Globe

New York City Construction

The 'Building Boom' Myth

Contrary to popular myth, New York is not drowning in new housing.

July 31, 2019 - Michael Lewyn

Providence, Rhode Island

The Complete Lack of Rental Housing Affordable to People Making Minimum Wage

Rents in 99 percent of counties in the U.S. are not affordable for residents making minimum wage, according to a recent report.

June 20, 2019 - Curbed

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.

Senior Planner

City of Thousand Oaks

Community Development Director

City of Wisconsin Rapids

Professor of Urban Planning

Harvard University Graduate School of Design

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

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The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.