HUD

New Orleans Aerial

New Orleans Public Housing in Decade-Long Stall

In the aftermath of Katrina, President Obama's Choice Neighborhoods initiative promised thousands of new affordable units. But so far the Housing Authority of New Orleans hasn't proved up to the task.

July 6, 2015 - Next City

Implementing Housing Vouchers for Veterans

A look at what HUD-VASH supportive housing vouchers can do, from the perspective of one of the agencies administering them.

March 14, 2015 - Shelterforce

Diggs Town

Back to Basics: the Diggs Town Public Housing Revitalization

Some of the most effective solutions in urban design involve the simplest design changes. Revitalizing public housing is difficult, but not impossible, as shown by Ray Gindroz and his team at Urban Design Associates in Norfolk, Virginia.

December 15, 2014 - Robert Freedman

Historic, Green, Affordable, and at (Some) Scale?

Iberville Offsites received the 2014 National Trust/HUD Secretary’s Award for Excellence in Historic Preservation for restoration of homes as low-income affordable housing

November 25, 2014 - Shelterforce/Rooflines

Testing the Many Aspects of Waterfront Resilience—In New York City

Principals from the Rebuild by Design competition, focusing on Red Hook in Brooklyn and Hunts Point in the South Bronx, discussed their designs and philosophies regarding New York City's resilience at the Center for Architecture.

August 14, 2014 - ASLA The Dirt

Will Benefits from $1 Billion Climate Change Resilience Fund be Limited to 'Believer States'?

A review of the federal government’s recent announcement of a $1 billion competition to provide funding for communities affected by disasters by Dave Hampton, a natural disaster resilience consultant.

July 26, 2014 - UrbDeZine

Fences Make Bad Neighbors in Hamden, Connecticut

The ugly story of the fence between a public housing community called New Haven and the nearby "middle class" community of Hamden, Connecticut will soon be over, but not because Hamden suddenly gained enlightenment.

July 13, 2014 - New York Times

Special Delivery: Housing Data Provided by the United States Postal Service

If you're looking for more data on housing in the United States, a dataset produced by the United States Postal Service has many advantages.

May 24, 2014 - CityLab

Coit Tower

HUD Rental Assistance on an Unsustainable Path—What Can Be Done to Save It?

A "Race to the Top" proposal for HUD to help off-set the difficulties of delivering affordable housing in high-priced, high-mobility metros.

May 7, 2014 - Shane Phillips

FEMA Hurricane Sandy

National Resilience Agency Needed to Prepare for Continued Disasters

Be Prepared! It's more than a motto: it's how we must respond to continuing large-scale natural disasters.

April 30, 2014 - Edward J. Blakely

Rebuild By Design: Building Resilience along the Atlantic Coast

Rebuild By Design, a design competition under the purview of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, released ten final proposals for projects that could protect and strengthen the Atlantic Coast in the event of another Hurricane Sandy.

April 7, 2014 - New York Magazine

New York Housing

Bricks or Bullets? Obama Chooses Defense Over Housing

The federal government has largely abdicated its responsibility to build affordable housing. Nowhere is that more clear than in the comparison between President Obama's proposed $6 billion to HUD for housing production and $626 billion for defense.

March 20, 2014 - Edward Poteat

Dallas Housing Department Scrutinized

A recent federal investigation into civil rights violations has given way to calls for a reorganization. A recent editorial examines the ways the Dallas Housing Department is failing.

March 9, 2014 - Dallas Morning News

Recapping the Tenure of D.C. Planning Director Harriet Tregoning

Harriet Tregoning recently announced the end of her seven-year tenure as planning director of Washington D.C. Called by some the “futurist-in-chief,” Tregoning will head to HUD, where she’ll head the Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities.

February 7, 2014 - Capital Business - The Washington Post

Using Data to Design St. Louis' Redevelopment Efforts

A HUD funded project has provided the city of St. Louis with a fine-grained map of residential real estate conditions across the city. Officials are hopeful the data will better guide the distribution of precious community development dollars.

January 30, 2014 - St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Buffalo Light Rail

TIGER Wins and High-Speed Rail Loses in New Federal Spending Bill

For the first time since 2011, Congressional negotiators have agreed on a $1.012 trillion omnibus budget bill to fund the federal government. Tanya Snyder examines the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development winners and losers.

January 15, 2014 - DC.Streetsblog

Bucking National Trend, Homelessness Rises in N.Y. and L.A.

Despite a "remarkable" drop in homelessness across the U.S., sobering new data from HUD reveals that New York City's struggle with record high homelessness is getting worse, not better. Homelessness is up substantially in Los Angeles as well.

November 25, 2013 - The New York Times

Visionary Concepts Make "Rebuild by Design" Shortlist

10 bold ideas for building the New York area's resiliency have been selected to move to the final round of a design competition run by HUD. The best designs could tap into billions of dollars in Hurricane Sandy relief funds.

November 17, 2013 - ArchDaily

Affordability Must Measure Transportation Costs, Say Feds

A new tool launched by the U.S. DOT and HUD builds on the Center for Neighborhood Technology's innovative Housing + Transportation Index to give Americans a better picture of the complete costs of their housing choices.

November 13, 2013 - DC.Streetsblog

A Modest Proposal for Improving Federal Housing Aid

Although the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher is one of the federal government's most effective housing programs, its administration by local public housing agencies limit its ability to de-concentrate poverty. A new report proposes a solution.

October 2, 2013 - The Washington Post

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.

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.