Density
How Urban Form Impacts Housing Affordability
The way we design cities affects housing costs differently than you might think.
Texas Law Could Limit Local Control Over Zoning
If upheld, a Texas law would likely prevent cities from enacting zoning reform that would increase density or eliminate single-family-only zoning.
Maine Law Promotes Smart Growth
New state legislation encourages cities to plan around ‘smart growth’ principles to preserve farmland and open space, and use infill development to build more housing.
Planning for Accessibility: Proximity is More Important than Mobility
Accessibility-based planning minimizes the distance that people must travel to reach desired services and activities. Measured this way, increased density can provide more total benefits than increased speeds.
Burlington Approves Middle Housing Zoning Reform
The Vermont city will allow larger residential buildings and adjust other requirements to spur more ‘missing middle housing’ development.
Boston Moves Zoning Reform Forward
The ‘Squares + Streets’ plan creates form-based zoning templates for neighborhoods that promote mixed use and denser housing near transit.
Anchorage Leaders Debate Zoning Reform Plan
Last year, the city produced the fewest new housing units in a decade.
Promoting Infill Development for a Denser Houston
An advocacy group is calling for ‘sustainable, vertical’ mixed-use urbanism in the famously sprawling city.
Charlottesville Adopts New Zoning Code
The revised ordinance calls for higher density and more affordable housing.
What Is Cambridge’s Affordable Housing Overlay?
A controversial policy is helping create more affordable housing units in the Massachusetts city, but fears of overwhelming density are likely unfounded.
Dallas City Council Debates Comprehensive Plan
Some councilmembers worry the ForwardDallas plan will eliminate single-family zoning, but proponents say the proposed changes are necessary to maintain an adequate housing supply in the growing city.
Atlanta Eliminates Parking Mandates Near BeltLine
Developments near the city’s popular greenway will no longer be subject to minimum parking requirements to make way for more effective development.
A Framework for Effective Transit-Oriented Development
Six principles for building vibrant, accessible communities with a focus on sustainable transportation.
Boston Zoning Commission to Consider ‘Squares and Streets’ Plan
The proposal would reduce barriers to the development of denser housing.
Zoning Reform Faces Uphill Battle in Dallas
Proposals to boost housing production through ‘gentle density’ increases face strong opposition from residents concerned about losing single-family neighborhoods.
Sacramento Council Approves Upzoning Proposal
If given final approval, the plan would increase the allowable floor area ratio to permit denser housing development in single-family neighborhoods and near transit.
Audit Reveals Utah’s Housing Shortage
The state must build 28,000 housing units each year to keep up with a growing need.
San Diego Mayor’s Housing Plan Fails in Council
A proposal to stimulate more housing production in the city was opposed from multiple sides.
Reno Revisits Zoning Reform
After roundly rejecting a proposal to legalize granny flats in 2018, the city council is revising it and other zoning reform proposals that could increase the city’s affordable housing supply.
Report Stresses Links Between Housing and Transit
A Canadian report calls for a more holistic approach to housing development policy and transportation planning.
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 Thousand Oaks
City of Wisconsin Rapids
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
Northern Illinois Transit Authority (NITA)
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
