Financing
How Financing Restricts the Rental Housing Market
The way apartment buildings are financed has a major impact on supply and costs.
Green Building Improvements Have a Friend in PACE
An under-reported loan model called Property Assessed Clean Energy, or PACE, financed $660 million of sustainable building improvements from 2016 through 2018.
Affordable Housing Finance: Show Me the Money
Ben Brown continues his weekly blog series in lead-up to the day-long exploration at CNU Savannah, "Affordability: The Intersection of Everything."
Lacking a Budget—Illinois to Borrow $480 Million for Road and Transit Projects
Citing the critical economic need for road construction and transit improvements, Gov. Bruce Rauner will conduct a general obligation bond sale later this month.
State of the Union Roundup: On Rent and Infrastructure
In describing the state of the union, President Barack Obama addressed a issues of professional and personal concern to Planetizen readers.
North Carolina Planners: Where to Build Light Rail (and Should it Be Built)?
This week residents in the North Carolina Triangle (Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill) will provide input on key segments of a future regional light rail system. The project has been analyzed for 15 years, yet the question of whether to build it remains.
The Federal Housing Administration's Ongoing, Systematic Obstruction of Density
Scott Beyer writes that despite changes to policies allowing insured mortgages by the Federal Housing Administration's (FHA), the federal government continues to obstruct density by limiting support for condo owners.
Beyond Zoning: Obstacles to Walkable Neighborhood Development
If the market demand is there, why isn't more mixed-use housing getting built? Follow the money.
Federal Rule Change Could Spur More Mixed-Use Development
A change made last month in the regulations concerning which buildings the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) judges to be eligible for financing could enable the construction of more mixed-use walkable developments, reports Angie Schmitt.
Could Good Design Have Prevented the Housing Crisis?
Architect Jeanne Gang and scholar Greg Lindsay have penned an opinion piece in which they investigate the ways in which designers and planners can fix the housing crisis by responding to economic, demographic, and cultural changes.
Cash-Strapped Township Puts Bridge Up For Sale to Public
The Pennsylvanian township of Upper Salford is auctioning off a 35-year-old wooden bridge to the highest bidder through an online forum, the latest creative solution for cash-strapped local governments seeking to clean up expensive local problems.
Community-Supported Businesses on the Rise
Stacy Mitchell reports on the growing trend of micro-financing, where small business people turn to the local community to get the funding they need to open restaurants or small shops.
How Portland Sold Its Banks on Walkable Development
Finding financing is one of the biggest challenges for transit-oriented development. How did Portland convince its lenders to get on board?
Expanding or Shrinking Your House at Will
The Klip House is a series of modular, prefab units that can be clipped together much like the binding on a ski boot, allowing homeowners to lease or own the home parts they need for their stage in life, then upgrade or downgrade when necessary.
Credit Crisis May Force Metro to Pay Millions
Metro and 30 other transit agencies across the country may have to pay billions of dollars to large banks as years-old financing deals unravel, potentially hurting service for millions of bus and train riders, transit officials said yesterday.
Could Your Rent Pay For More Transit?
An acquaintance of mine is trying to decide whether to move to Los Angeles or New York. Having spent most of her life in the Northeast, New York is a familiar city where she has good friends and job connections. However, she can’t help but feel the draw of the West Coast, and on a recent visit to Los Angeles, she was rather keen on settling down in Southern California, especially when she was comparing the rents in L.A. to those in New York. While rents in New York are increasingly stratospheric, L.A.’s are just exorbitantly high.
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.
Village of Glen Ellyn
American Planning Association, Sustainable Communities Division
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Cambridge, Maryland
Newport County Development Council: Connect Greater Newport
Rockdale County Board of Commissioners
