As consumer real estate debt surpasses $9 trillion, TIME magazine examines four radical proposals that top policymakers and economists think will help turn things around.
"Two and a half years on from the crisis, just 760,000 Americans, or 1.5% of the country's 51 million mortgage holders, have received modifications through Barack Obama's signature program, the Home Affordable Modification Program - and nearly half of them have defaulted anyway. After a total of $18 billion in government spending on housing bailouts since 2008, the President declared in early July that the efforts had largely failed," report Massimo Calabresi and Stephen Gangel.
Cognizant that housing will once again be on voters' minds in the upcoming 2012 elections, the Obama White House is ready to roll out another program to ameliorate the financial distress facing homeowners across the nation.
Weighing in on the top four proposals, Calabresi and Gangel write, "[E]conomists and politicians are embracing increasingly radical ideas as a seemingly obvious fact gains consensus. America can't get out of its economic doldrums until it fixes the problem that caused the crisis in the first place: housing."
FULL STORY: How To Save The Housing Market: Destroy Houses
Proposed Bill Would Outlaw Nearly Half of Cleveland's Airbnbs
The proposed new ordinance aims to help combat the Cleveland's housing crunch and eliminate nuisance complaints related to short-term rental properties.
Mapping Tool Enables Housing Action in Detroit and Beyond
A web tool that helped Detroit develop a housing plan may ultimately provide public data on every parcel in the country.
‘Clybourne Park’ Sets Stage for Housing Equity Discussions
Clybourne Park, a play exploring race, real estate, and community tensions, can set the stage for discussion on the lasting impacts of housing discrimination, gentrification, and the fight for affordability.
Alabama: Trump Terminates Settlements for Black Communities Harmed By Raw Sewage
Trump deemed the landmark civil rights agreement “illegal DEI and environmental justice policy.”
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
The 120 Year Old Tiny Home Villages That Sheltered San Francisco’s Earthquake Refugees
More than a century ago, San Francisco mobilized to house thousands of residents displaced by the 1906 earthquake. Could their strategy offer a model for the present?
Ken Jennings Launches Transit Web Series
The Jeopardy champ wants you to ride public transit.
BLM To Rescind Public Lands Rule
The change will downgrade conservation, once again putting federal land at risk for mining and other extractive uses.
Indy Neighborhood Group Builds Temporary Multi-Use Path
Community members, aided in part by funding from the city, repurposed a vehicle lane to create a protected bike and pedestrian path for the summer season.
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.
Clanton & Associates, Inc.
Jessamine County Fiscal Court
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