Suburbs
Rent Costs Rising Faster in Suburbs Than Urban Cores
In a majority of U.S. metro areas, suburban rent hikes are outpacing urban rent increases.
New Research Blames Affluent Suburbs for Housing Crisis
Small, often wealthy enclaves build far less multifamily housing than their larger counterparts, exacerbating the dearth of affordable housing near big cities and job centers.
A ‘New Urbanism’ Travelogue
I visited three New Urbanist developments in North Carolina. Here's what I liked, what I didn't like, and what I learned.
Mitigating the Environmental Footprint of Sprawl
There is still time to reverse the environmental outcomes of American suburbs. Researchers in Los Angeles, considered by many to be the poster child for U.S. sprawl, have been at work on the problem for years.
Remote Work and the Shift to Suburbia
Is the growth of working from home turning America into a ‘suburban nation?’
Cities Need More Family-Oriented Housing
For many young families, it’s simply impossible to find affordable housing in cities, leading them to the suburbs not by choice, but by necessity.
A Rapidly Urbanizing Texas County Gets in Touch With its Agricultural Roots
Developers in Fort Bend County are drawing inspiration from ‘agrihoods’ to build car-light communities in one of the nation’s fastest-growing areas.
New York Governor Advances Housing Plan Amid Stiff Suburban Opposition
Governor Kathy Hochul’s ambitious proposal to create more housing has once again run into a brick wall of opposition in New York’s enormous suburbs, especially on Long Island. This year, however, the wall may have some cracks.
New Exhibition Examines Democracy and Land Use in Connecticut
"The Practice of Democracy: A View from Connecticut" is a new exhibition on display from January to June in Bridgeport, New Haven, and Norwalk which unpacks the relationship of land use and development to democracy.
Is Exclusionary Zoning a Good Thing?
Some commentators defend exclusionary suburban zoning on the ground that it makes affluent suburbanites more willing to pay for public services. But does exclusion create losers?
From Garden Cemeteries to Levittown
Tracing the story of the American suburban form.
The Crucial Role of Suburban Voters in the Midterms
Suburban voters were instrumental in preventing a 'red wave' on Election Day and on December 6 in the Georgia U.S. Senate runoff election, enabling the Democrats to win a 51st Senate seat.
Is Sprawl the Only Answer to High Housing Costs?
A recent article argues that sprawl is the solution to high housing costs, pointing out that low-density Sunbelt cities are more affordable than some more compact metro areas. What's wrong with this argument?
Utah’s Daybreak Shows a Way Forward for American Suburbs
Suburban dwellers are increasingly calling for more mixed-use development, walkability, and access to transit.
Urbanist TikTok Takes Aim at the Suburbs
Planners are using the popular video platform to explain how car dependence and single-family zoning deepen suburban isolation and affect affordability and sustainability.
Reimagining the Suburbs
With more people moving away from central cities, we have the chance to avoid past mistakes and redesign the American suburb to be less car-centric and more diverse.
Pandemic-Era Big City Population Loss More Dramatic Than We Thought
A new analysis indicates that many big cities saw their biggest population declines in at least a decade, with suburbs also showing a slowdown in growth.
A New Life for the Suburban Office Park?
With more and more employers downsizing and moving to areas with more urban amenities, large suburban office parks offer an opportunity for increased density and mixed-use development.
A Second Life for the American Mall
‘Dead’ suburban malls, with their existing infrastructure, offer a variety of opportunities for redevelopment into everything from housing to parks.
Day Two of the National Planning Conference: Staying on the Cutting Edge
The American Planning Association gathers for its first in-person National Planning Conference since 2019. Planetizen is in attendance. Here is some of what we saw on the second day of the conference.
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
