As buildable sites get harder to find and more expensive to develop, developers are becoming more creative and taking greater risks.
Three years ago, the Atlanta-based Winter Group gained international attention when it converted a 1920s high school in the citys Little Five Points area into a 133-unit urban loft project that retained features such as classroom chalkboards and student lockers. The company cleaned up the site, remediating the lead and asbestos in the structure, and later reaped the financial rewards. Rents at Bass Lofts are $1.35 per square foot, some ten to 20 cents higher than a new project in the suburbs would have yielded.
Thanks to Urban Land Magazine
FULL STORY: Finding Good Dirt

What ‘The Brutalist’ Teaches Us About Modern Cities
How architecture and urban landscapes reflect the trauma and dysfunction of the post-war experience.

‘Complete Streets’ Webpage Deleted in Federal Purge
Basic resources and information on building bike lanes and sidewalks, formerly housed on the government’s Complete Streets website, are now gone.

Tiny House Villages for Addressing Homelessness: An Interview with Yetimoni Kpeebi
One researcher's perspective on the potential of tiny homes and owner-built housing as one tool to fight the housing crisis.

A Plan to Expand Tree Canopy Across Dayton
Dayton is developing an urban forest master plan, using a $2 million grant to expand its tree canopy, address decades of tree loss, and enhance environmental equity across the city.

Decarbonizing Homes: The Case for Electrifying Residential Heating
A new MIT study finds that transitioning residential heating from natural gas to electric heat pumps can significantly reduce carbon emissions and operational costs.

Preserving Altadena’s Trees: A Community Effort to Save a Fire-Damaged Landscape
In the wake of the Eaton Fire, Altadena Green is working to preserve fire-damaged but recoverable trees, advocating for better assessment processes, educating homeowners, and protecting the community’s urban canopy from unnecessary removal.
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.
Economic & Planning Systems, Inc.
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research