Affordable Housing
Unpacking the Idea 'More Housing Equals Lower Prices'
It makes economic sense: increase supply in desirable areas to match demand. These articles look at some of the factors complicating that story in on the west coast.
Sunday Funday: Game Simulates the Development Experience
Even though it's simplified, Inside the Rent provides a window into the logic of developers trying to get apartments built in New York City. The game's creators emphasize its educational value.
Philadelphia's Rowhouse Remedy for Gentrification
Blessed with an innate resilience, Philadelphia's brick rowhouses risk disrepair and redevelopment. Local nonprofits are looking for ways to keep this resource equitable.
Seattle NIMBYs Protest Dense Development, Cite Eastern Bloc
A zoning bill has stirred up the fear that dense development projects will transform Seattle into a "Soviet cityscape." Residents accuse developers of using loopholes to squeeze in pricey, out-of-character townhomes.
Affordable Housing Follows Good Transit
More raw housing stock is only the first step. Without comprehensive transit, the value of density can't extend beyond the city center.
How Landlords Segregate Neighborhoods
Exploring the persistence of racial segregation as a result of U.S. housing policies—policies intended to break patterns of segregation, not reproduce them.
Seattle Searching for Answers on Affordable Housing
The city of Seattle has a stated goal of creating 30,000 new market rate housing units and 20,000 new or newly rent-restricted units in the city in the next 10 years. How to do so is the question currently before local officials.
Ask the Ethicist: Making Room in the Development Review Pipeline for Social Justice
The latest installment of Planetizen's "Ask the Ethicist" series features the advice of our resident expert: Carol D. Barrett, FAICP, author of "Everyday Ethics for Practicing Planners."
An Aggressive Pitch to Bail out New York City's Public Housing
Mayor Bill De Blasio released an aggressive and likely contentious plan to fund the New York Housing Authority, which is currently sitting on $16 billion in needed maintenance work.
How D.C.'s Department of Housing and Community Development Will Tackle Housing Challenges
Aaron Wiener interviews Polly Donaldson—the recently hired head the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) in Washington, D.C.—about her strategies for improving housing in the Nation's Capital.
Affordable Housing Strikes Back
Has George Lucas discovered the ultimate anti-NIMBY weapon? Hint: It's not a lightsaber
Welcome To Our Neighborhood: A Manifesto for Inclusivity
Housing policy is not just about houses, it is also about people, and the determination of who may live in a community. We challenge communities to proclaim, “Yes in our backyard! We welcome new neighbors. We favor more diversity.”
Focus on Affordability at APA National Conference
For all the discussion about affordable housing at the APA National Conference in Seattle last week, clear solutions have yet to emerge. Polycentric regional planning is one long-term goal.
Sun Belt Remains Destination of Choice for Migrants
Census Bureau data indicates that the shift to Sun Belt suburbs is still the majority preference. Turns out warmth, jobs, and affordable housing are a powerful triumvirate.
How Community Benefit Programs Create Value-Added Growth and Protect Public Resources
With redevelopment funding no longer an option, South San Francisco and other cities increasingly are looking to a community benefits platform, according to Murtaza Baxamusa, a planner and urban planning professor.
Will Expenses in Coastal Cities Lead to Northeast Ohio's Resurgence?
Joel Kotkin recently waded into the conversation about that it will take to return Legacy Cities into the prosperity of former years.
Oregon Moves to Lift Inclusionary Zoning Ban
By a vote split (nearly) down the party line, the Oregon House passed a bill to end state restrictions on inclusionary zoning. Municipalities may soon be able to require below-market pricing.
Op-Ed: End the Excuses for Lack of Housing Construction
An op-ed in the Boston Globe argues that the endless negotiations over new residential developments—including over the inclusion of affordable housing units—hurts the city's housing market.
Airbnb and Affordable Housing
Does apartment-sharing reduce regional housing supply? Probably not very much.
Seattle's Homeless Population Is Booming Too
While rates of homelessness drop elsewhere, tents and cardboard are becoming a very regular sight in Seattle. New wealth and newly unaffordable housing may be twin culprits.
Pagination
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.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority