Housing

Redlining Map

Louisville Council Decision on Housing Development Subject of Discrimination Investigation

The U.S. Department of Justice is taking another look at a development decision made by the Louisville Metro Council in October 2017.

February 21, 2018 - Insider Louisville

Transit Oriented Development

Two Transit Agencies Using Their Clout to Spur Affordable Housing

More transit agencies are recognizing that it's not enough to build transit infrastructure if the people who really need it don't live close enough to use it.

February 20, 2018 - TransitCenter

Sutro Tower

Reevaluating Rent Control

Cities and researchers are reconsidering the effects of the controversial housing policy known as rent control.

February 20, 2018 - Governing

The Mission

Equitable Development in the Mission District

A local nonprofit created a real estate development wing to stem the tide of displacement in San Francisco.

February 20, 2018 - Next City

Minneapolis Stone Arch Bridge

Minneapolis Considering Inclusionary Housing Again

Minneapolis City Council President Lisa Bender thinks the political calculus has changed for inclusionary zoning—but some critics think inclusionary zoning will be too little too late to make a difference for the city's affordable housing stock.

February 20, 2018 - MinnPost

State Affordable Housing Policies as Sprawl Enabler

A critique of New Jersey's housing policies lends historical perspective before taking an unexpected rhetorical turn.

February 16, 2018 - The Star-Ledger

Bank and Home Loans

Report Details Racial Discrimination Among Banks and Mortgage Lenders

Fifty years of the Fair Housing Act hasn't been enough to stop banks and mortgage lenders from discriminating against people of color. Some bad actors are worse than others, though the whole industry in the aggregate is hardly free from indictment.

February 16, 2018 - Reveal (The Center for Investigative Reporting)

Vota Latino

Hispanic Families Left Behind in the Central Texas Boom

A new report shows the need for Central Texas counties and cities to invest in their Latino populations.

February 15, 2018 - KUT

Anti homeless bench

An Artist Campaigns Against Anti-Homeless 'Hostile Design'

Bournemouth native Stuart Semple is intent on "naming and shaming the bodies who fund and install these things."

February 12, 2018 - The Art Newspaper

Single-Family Homes

Dormant Inner Suburbs and the Affordability Crisis

Richard Florida takes a look at a new report that traces the affordability crisis to cities' inability to densify their older, inner suburbs.

February 12, 2018 - CityLab

Detroit, Michigan

Unexpected 'Airbnb Ban' in Detroit's Residential Neighborhoods Causes a Stir

Somehow the city of Detroit managed to start enforcing an Airbnb ban in single-family neighborhoods without anyone realize the council had approved the regulation.

February 12, 2018 - Curbed Detroit

Last Days of Cabrini Green

Cabrini-Green's Life And Death

A new book tells the story of Chicago's Cabrini-Green and reflects on what the lives of the people in this public housing project have to say about the lives of all Americans.

February 10, 2018 - South Side Weekly

Fringe Development

Housing Limits Potentially on the Ballot in Colorado

A ballot initiative is moving forward in Colorado that would severely limit housing production in the already housing-constrained Front Range region. We're not talking about urban growth boundaries here.

February 9, 2018 - The Denver Post

Gay Marriage celebration

Trulia Launches House Hunting Tool for Evaluating LGBT Protections

Call it buyer beware: the real estate website Trulia is offering a new tool to helps house hunters evaluate whether communities discriminate against the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender residents.

February 9, 2018 - Trulia

One Native American Family, Two Housing Crises

In Oakland, California and Torreon, New Mexico, Julian Brave NoiseCat reports that "[f]or Indigenous people, the crisis of the home is intergenerational."

February 8, 2018 - High Country News

French Density

Demand For Higher Density Development Slowing Down

Will 2018 signal the end of the latest real estate cycle as we know it?

February 8, 2018 - Modern Cities

Queen-Spadina

Study: Mixed-Use Neighborhoods Fail Affordability

A study published recently in the Journal of the American Planning Association finds that mixed-use neighborhoods in Toronto are only delivering benefits to those who can afford to pay a premium.

February 7, 2018 - CBC News

Silicon Valley

Most California Cities Now Subject to State-Mandated Development Streamlining

Given that 97 percent of California cities aren't meeting their housing targets, SB 35, last year's landmark "by-right" housing bill, now applies to projects that contain varying amounts of affordable units.

February 6, 2018 - East Bay Times

Hoboken, New Jersey

HUD Mulling Work Requirements and Higher Rents for Housing Assistance

More details of the Trump Administration's agenda at the Department of Housing and Urban Development were revealed late last week.

February 6, 2018 - The Intercept

Telepgraph Avenue from UC Berkeley Campus 1981

Berkeley Mayor Condemns Legislation to Increase Housing Density by Transit

Mayor Jesse Arreguín's charges about permissible heights, demolition of rent-controlled housing and displacement that would result from Senate Bill 827 by Sen. Wiener are refuted in the Berkeleyside article, though the latter two have resonance.

February 5, 2018 - Berkeleyside

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.

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.