Public Housing
The "Perfect Storm" that Caused the U.S. Public Housing Fiasco
Architect Ray Gindroz says that a perfect storm of factors - economic change, crushing policy decisions, and over-reaching ambition - brought about the disaster of public housing in the U.S. like Pruitt-Igoe.
Undercrowding Vexes NYC Housing Authority
Elizabeth A. Harris explores the New York City Housing Authority's extensive underoccupied public housing dilemma and how attempts at resolving the issue delicately are failing to address the problem.
The Risks and Opportunities of Globalization as Reflected in Homeownership
Jonathan Massey pens an essay in the journal Places, in which he probes the implications of homeownership as the vehicle by which the microeconomics of household finance and the macroeconomics of a globalized economy are mediated.
Reflections on Towers in the Park, and the Limits of Architecture
Michael Kimmelman, after visiting the Penn South housing cooperative in Manhattan and reflecting on the new film "The Pruitt-Igoe Myth", questions the role that design has in determining success or failure for tower in the park housing type.
Controversy Surrounds Plans for Historic Public Housing in Chicago
Preservationists say Lathrop Homes should be preserved, the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) says it should be "transformed", but what do the residents think?
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.
Does Affordable Housing Have to Look Bad?
Allison Arieff explodes the unspoken myth that public housing must look cheap and unattractive, citing some stellar examples of affordable design.
Plan to Revitalize Public Housing Stymied by NYC Parking Requirements
New York City Housing Authority Chairman John Rhea says that the city's own parking minimums are making it difficult to make public housing sites more mixed-use, mixed-income and financially sustainable.
Mixed Feelings About Public Housing Project
La Lignon, a massive 2,780 unit housing project, was built hastily in the 70s in Switzerland to help manage a massive housing crisis. Today, some people call it home and others call it "a monster."
New Orleans Sets New Rules for Public Housing
With great success, the city is on a fast track to transform six Great Depression-era public housing projects - totaling 4,000 units - into mixed-income housing. "People will be watching New Orleans closely," observes Linda Couch.
The People of Pruitt-Igoe
A new documentary promises to reveal the stories of the people who lived in the infamous Pruitt-Igoe housing complex. The filmmakers promise to "implode myths" about this symbol of failed urban renewal policy.
Re-Engineering Public Housing in Atlanta
Public housing remains one of the major dysfunctional elements in U.S. welfare policy. But in Atlanta, one innovative administrator is changing the game.
Can Planning Rebuild "Ghettos of the Mind"?
Dehumanizing urban renewal-era public housing developments across North America are being replaced by mixed-use, mixed income neighborhoods with affordable housing. Yet in Regent Park, Toronto at least, many troubling social problems remain.
Atlanta Revamps Public Housing
Howard Husock catalogs the accomplishments of Renee Glover, the controversial leader of the Atlanta Housing Authority.
Cities Struggle to Maintain Public Housing
Across the country, federal funding is unable to keep up with repair costs, forcing some municipalities to cut units from their programs.
Daley's Success As Chicago's 20-Year Mayor
Neal Pierce argues that retiring Mayor Daley's achievements in Chicago "stand out as beacons for mayors, American and worldwide, to emulate." He attributes some of his success to sheer political skill, but also examines seven effective policy shifts.
Rethinking Public Housing
Does the New York City Housing Authority’s (NYCHA) decision to tear down Prospect Plaza, a high rise development in Brownsville Brooklyn, portend the demise of public housing in New York City as we know it?
Goodbye, Cabrini-Green
The Cabrini-Green Housing Projects in Chicago, Illinois were some of the worst examples of the public housing towers era. This stop motion video captures the demolition of one of the last buildings left in the redevelopment process.
Infamous Watts Public Housing, Reimagined
The Jordan Downs public housing complex in Watts, California is a perfect example of the failed projects of built mid-century. A new proposal would tear down the towers in favor of a mix of building styles connecting to the surrounding area.
Brooklyn Public Housing Planned for Renovation Instead Faces Demolition
Prospect Plaza, three public housing towers in Brooklyn, were vacated in 2003 for refurbishment. NYC has long renovated their public housing towers instead of tearing them down, so the announcement marks a major change for the city.
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.
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Nashville Planning Department
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
Journal of the American Planning Association
