Housing
Bush Signs Housing Bill
President George W. Bush signed into law a package of housing legislation intended to ease the burden on thousands of borrowers who face losing their homes. The legislation will also bail out major mortgage financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Exurbs Hit Hard by Housing Crisis
Exurban developments are struggling to control their rampant foreclosure rates and plummeting housing values.
Does HUD Need To Be Modernized?
Professor Sudhir Venkatesh of Columbia believe it is time for HUD to be replaced by a more nimble agency capable of responding to the 21st century city.
Moscow Tops List of World's Most Expensive Cities
Moscow tops an annual ranking of the world's most expensive cities. The survey examines housing, transportation, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment for corporations and government agencies determining living costs for expats.
British Town Reduces Carbon Footprint Through Small Changes
Small changes in British Victorian homes yield big changes in energy consumption, and help debunk the stereotype that 'green equals ugly' where architecture is concerned.
Project Lilypad: A 'Floating Ecopolis'
Belgian architect Vincent Callebaut has designed a floating city with the noble goal of housing displaced peoples who's homelands have been destroyed.
Renewal of Cities Derailed by Mortgage Crisis
Decades of hard-won community revitalization work in America's cities is being undone by the mortgage crisis, and the Federal government is at odds over how to stop the decline.
Black Flight or White Gentrification?
The Wall Street Journal reports that middle-class African-Americans are leaving America's major cities in droves, leaving remaining African-American cultural and religious institutions struggling to adjust to this new demographic reality.
Public Housing Museum Idea Moves Forward
A non-profit group in Chicago wants to open a museum dedicated to American public housing in the Former Public Housing Authority Building.
Neighbors Complain Plan is 'Too Urban'
Residents of Seattle's Magnolia neighborhood are complaining about plans to redevelop nearby Fort Lawton which includes housing for seniors and homeless.
Living the Slow Life in Marathon, Texas
The New York Times profiles Marathon, a tiny town in Texas with no jobs to speak of but a growing number of second-home buyers looking for the quiet life.
County Plans to End Homelessness in 10 Years
Nassau County, NY has released a plan to end homelessness using strategies such as developing a database to track homeless people, assist people at risk for homelessness with landlord/mortgage issues, and build significant new affordable housing.
The Role of the Government in Home Loans
The Freddie Mac/Fannie Mae crisis is resurrecting the debate over the role the federal government should play in the housing market.
Nearly 200 New Jersey Mayors Oppose Affordable Housing Rules
Almost 200 New Jersey mayors have joined together to oppose new affordable housing requirements that they say their cities can't possibly comply with.
Evictions Continue As Beijing Prepares for Olympics
With less than a month left before the start of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, residents in the Chinese metropolis are still being evicted to make way for event-related construction.
Fighting Foreclosure Blight With Demolition
As foreclosures increase throughout the country, more cities are looking to solve the problem of abandoned and dilapidated houses with demolition.
Fannie, Freddie Falter
With their share prices dropping and prospects for fresh capitalization remote, there are growing concerns that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may be heading for failure, and with it grave repercussions for the entire U.S. economy.
Chickens Aren't Just For Countrysides Anymore
Residents of Austin, TX are risking violation of city ordinances forbidding loud animals to raise chickens in their central city neighborhood backyards. It's partly a way to cut out-of-pocket expenses.
Something Good To Say About California's Prop 13 In A Housing Slump
Long considered the source of California's fiscal and land use woes, Proposition 13, passed by voters in 1978, limits increases in property tax. However, it may prove to be an 'economic stabilizer' during the current housing slump.
Lost In Leisureville
The number of retirement communities is growing rapidly. Author Andrew D. Blechman warns about the social cost of age-segregation.
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.
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
Ada County Highway District
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
Salt Lake City
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
