Housing

Evaluating Affordable Housing Development Strategies
There are many ways that communities can support and encourage affordable housing development. Let's compare them.

Munich Builds New Housing Over Parking Lots
Fed up with all the extra space parked cars occupy, residents of Munich have turned to affordable housing built over already-existing parking lots. The wood-frame structures will be prefabricated and assembled quickly.

Sprawl and the Declining City
Sprawl lowers real estate values in cheap, declining cities—but it may also have social costs that aren't as relevant elsewhere.
Community Development Corporations Struggling to Stay Afloat in St. Louis
Less funding has led to a decline in the number of community development corporations in the St. Louis area, despite a persistent need for their services.
How Oakland Is Tackling Its Housing Crisis
Just across the Bay Bridge from one of the most famous examples of a broken housing market, Oakland is working to keep up with the effects of housing demand.
Luxury Housing Is Not the Enemy
We can't build our way out of the housing crisis…but we won't get out without building.

Op-Ed: Overcoming a New NIMBYism
Rick Jacobus argues that those who block new development on social justice grounds aren't fighting to win long-term. Building is necessary, but with it should come robust affordable housing mandates.
How Federal Housing Programs Built Segregation in St. Louis
St. Louis Public Radio details the work of a local researcher who says the segregation of today's St. Louis is the result of deliberate, decades-long federal housing policy.
More Anti-Density Measures Headed to the Ballot in Southern California
Witness the full force of anti-development animus in Southern California, where at least three cities are facing variety of backlash to the status quo of zoning and development processes.
A Chronicle of Inequality—Starting with Memphis and Houston
Places Journal has launched a series titled "The Inequality Chronicles." Expect high-quality longform articles.

Finding Middle Ground in the Density Debate
Writer Alex Marshall looks to Kitsilano, a Vancouver neighborhood, for urban infill done right. Skyscrapers and mid-rise developments aren't always necessary to achieve more people per square foot.
Another California Columnist Rails Against CEQA Abuse by NIMBYs
With the help of housing experts, San Francisco Chronicle columnist Chip Johnson points to abuse of the California Environmental Quality Act by NIMBYs as one of the main reasons for the Bay Area's housing crisis. Ethan Elkind offers an opposing view.

Manhattan's Glut of Condos Now a Glut of Apartments
Despite concerns than foreign investors would snatch up expensive condo properties around Manhattan, keeping the supply our of reach of local renters, analysts report rental prices are dropping as new supply enters the market.

Using the Wrong Tools to Build Affordable Housing
What's the best way to deliver long-term affordable housing?
Op-Ed: To Fix Poverty, Make Housing Fair for Everyone
A Harvard sociologist and author of "Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City" supports a large expansion of housing vouchers to rebalance the scales of the housing market.
Report Finds Much Ado About Nothing for Vancouver Real Estate
Despite reports to the contrary, a recent report created in part by the City of Vancouver, finds that most housing types in the city have yet to be sold to absentee landlords.
Mountain View Breaks Rank—Approves Large Amount of New Residential Land Uses
According to a new plan approved by the city of Mountain View, developers could now add a large amount of dense housing on the doorstep of Google's headquarters.

How One Developer Is Delivering Urban Infill
Doug Bauer, CEO of one of the nation's largest homebuilders, describes the political and design decisions that contributed to the success of urban infill projects in four unique case studies.

The Same Old Misconceptions
Misconceptions about New Urbanism persist.
The Case for Making Federal Housing Programs Like HAMP and HARP Permanent
There have been a number of federal and state programs to address the housing and foreclosure crisis. While these programs have helped a lot of people and continue to do so, many people that are qualified still have trouble completing these programs.
Pagination
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.
EMC Planning Group, Inc.
Planetizen
Planetizen
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service