Social Services

Downtown Los Angeles

Pre-Fab Tiny Home Village Takes Shape in L.A.

Along with communal showers and bathrooms, the village will also include laundry, storage facilities, and offices for social service providers.

April 19, 2021 - The Eastsider LA

Subway Homeless

A New—and Hopefully Better—Way to Deal with the Homeless Crisis on the N.Y.C. Subway

More homeless people are using the subway as temporary housing, and the delays and disruptions have increased as well. A new city program will replace fines with outreach to provide better access to social services.

July 2, 2019 - The New York Times

Portland skyline from the Benson Hotel

SROs Are Getting People Off the Streets in Portland

Single-room-occupancy hotels are providing much-needed affordable housing for the city’s most vulnerable residents.

May 10, 2019 - Oregon Live

Pittsburgh Suburbs Struggle with Growing Poverty Rates

The new paradigm of poverty is playing out in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania: the majority of individuals in poverty live the suburbs, where the impacts of poverty are harder to identify.

January 11, 2014 - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Trend Towards Engagement Transforms America's Public Housing

Public housing models in the U.S. are becoming more community-oriented and taking varying demographics into account during the design process. Engagement with the street, the neighborhood, and social services are creating new design typologies.

March 29, 2013 - Architectural Record

Shrinking and Aging Population Poses Problems for Germany

Emigration is up and the birth rate is dropping in Germany, where people are starting to worry about what a shrinking and aging population will mean for the country's future.

May 31, 2010 - Der Spiegel

Infrastructure Spending Expected to Rise in Stimulus Year Two

About one-third of the federal government's $787 billion economic stimulus has actually been spent over the last year. During the next year, much of the focus of the remainder will be on infrastructure projects.

February 19, 2010 - The Wall Street Journal

Exporting the Impoverished

The City of New York has been spending thousands of dollars to send people out of the city -- opting to pay for one-way plane tickets instead of providing social services.

July 30, 2009 - The New York Times

Economic Troubles for Low-Income Families ... and the Services They Depend On

This piece from <em>Color Lines</em> looks at how the economic downturn is affecting low-income populations, and how social services are having trouble keeping up with an increasing demand for help.

May 18, 2009 - Color Lines

New Updates on The Edge

HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research

New Case Study Posted on HUD User

HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research

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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.

Hand Drawing Master Plans

This course aims to provide an introduction into Urban Design Sketching focused on how to hand draw master plans using a mix of colored markers.