Affordable Housing

Colorado Confronts Senior Housing Crisis

Reflecting trends likely to effect many cities in the coming years and decades, Magdalena Wegrzyn reports on the growing need for affordable housing for seniors in the City of Longmont, 30 miles outside of Denver.

May 3, 2012 - The Denver Post

Zoning Children Out of a Good Education

Nate Berg examines new research linking restrictive land use regulations to academically stratified neighborhoods.

April 21, 2012 - The Atlantic Cities

For Affordable Housing in NYC, a Bountiful Harvest

Alison Gregor highlights efforts by affordable housing developers to implement edible community gardens, bringing fresh food and neighborhood ties to inner-city tenants.

April 16, 2012 - The New York Times

Straight Talk on the Dissolution of California Redevelopment Agencies

A panel of distinguished Angelenos recently discussed the missteps that led to the dissolution of California's redevelopment agencies, the hole that their closure creates, and the possible paths forward.

April 10, 2012 - The Planning Report

Are Liberals and Conservatives Fighting Each Other's Land Use Battles?

In his book, The Rent Is Too Damn High, Matthew Yglesias encourages us to reexamine our assumptions about which urban policies our values really support.

March 23, 2012 - The Atlantic Cities

Mapping the Myth of Affordable Housing

The National Low Income Housing Coalition has recently released a map showing their state-by-state findings on housing affordability. And, in no state was a 40-hour work week at minimum wage enough to pay for a two-bedroom unit at Fair Market Rent.

March 20, 2012 - The Washington Post

Bringing Value to Low-Cost Housing

Ron Nyren looks at 10 affordable housing developments across the world completed in the last five years that demonstrate good design and low-cost housing are not mutually exclusive.

March 17, 2012 - Urban Land

Non-Profit Housing Lender Gambled on Luxury Condos, Faltered

Once a bastion of rent-controlled housing for the poor and working class, a New York non-profit recently ousted its CEO following a string of risky real estate investments, Charles Bagli reports.

March 15, 2012 - New York Times

In California, Assessing the Obstacles to Redevelopment 2.0

Continuing their excellent coverage of the twists and turns in the California redevelopment saga, CP&DR have run two articles this week providing updates on efforts to navigate a path forward for redevelopment.

February 24, 2012 - California Planning & Development Report

Why Rent Control is a Flawed Tool

Scott James reports on the ironic application of rent control laws in San Francisco, which results in people of relatively modest means subsidizing the housing of the extraordinarily wealthy.

February 19, 2012 - The Bay Citizen

New Study Ties Housing Affordability to Sustainability

Sarah Laskow reports on a new study by the Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) that seeks to rethink how affordable housing is defined to incorporate transportation costs.

February 7, 2012 - Good

Preserving Transit-Oriented Affordable Housing

As developers across the country increasingly recognize the market advantages of redevelopment oriented around transit, and property values rise in response, hundreds of thousands of units of affordable housing are at risk.

February 5, 2012 - Shelterforce

Innovation when Good Planning Policy Has Become the Norm

Scott Doyon argues for a stripped-down, back-to-basics 'punk rock' approach to urban growth and development to replace the 'rock and roll' excesses of planning during the housing boom; and he profiles the new innovators who are doing just that.

February 5, 2012 - PlaceShakers

Who Gets Hurt When Redevelopment Gets Abandoned?

Ron Nyren examines the various types of projects that will be negatively impacted by California's decision to abandon redevelopment.

January 20, 2012 - Urban Land

Virginia's Green Building Revolution

The commonwealth's nonprofit affordable housing developers are outgreening their market-rate peers, bringing green building up to scale statewide.

January 20, 2012 - Shelterforce

The 'Sword and Shield' Approach to Preventing Foreclosure Evictions

An innovative tenants-rights organization in Boston combines community activism and financial backing to force banks to sell foreclosed homes back to the previous owners.

January 8, 2012 - Shelterforce

Affordable Housing Industry Embraces Green Building Techniques

Affordable housing advocates find that green building techniques result in higher-quality construction -- and often with costs comparable to traditional building techniques.

January 7, 2012 - Shelterforce

Federal Housing and Envirnomental Policies Clash in New Orleans

Low-income residents of the Upper 9th Ward in New Orleans have lived alongside a potentially lethal legacy of federal policy decisions -- and on top of a 95-acre municipal dump.

January 5, 2012 - City Limits

'Unfathomable' Budget Cuts Deepen the Housing Crisis

The continuing recession and housing crisis are being further decimated by federal cuts to housing aid, according to The Nation.

January 1, 2012 - The Nation

Dangerous, But Useful: Illegal Apartments

Illegal apartments present a quandary for the city of New York: they increase the danger of fire, but also provide needed shelter that couldn't be found elsewhere. Some experts think a path to legalization could work.

November 8, 2011 - City Limits

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.

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

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.