The crisis facing many Fresno renters is nothing new. A history of housing in the city shows how, since the late 19th century, poor housing conditions have been "ingrained in Fresno's culture."
"Fresno’s substandard housing crisis has been in the making since the city’s birth,” the piece in the Fresno Bee begins. “It’s a story of poverty, racism, urban sprawl and neglect."
Like that of so many other American cities, it’s a story propelled in part by racist housing covenants and redlining, and legal responses to these practices that tended to change how, not whether, discrimination was enacted. The city and federal government also attempted to replace substandard housing through public housing in the 1950s and urban renewal projects in the 1960s, some of which sited highways through low-income communities.
By 1992, since discovering that "tearing out blighted areas did not eliminate social problems," the city was found to have ignored more than 1,300 homes with poor health and safety conditions, many in low-income neighborhoods of color.
The history lesson is part of a special report on housing called "Living in Misery."
FULL STORY: Fresno’s long history substandard housing: poverty, sprawl, racism, neglect
Can Reparations Right the Wrongs Caused by a Highway?
An elevated highway destroyed an African American community in Syracuse, New York. Is just removing it enough?
El Paso Zoning Changes Could Bring Opportunity—or Displacement
Some residents feared proposed zoning reforms aimed at redressing historic injustices could harm residents in the short term.
Redlined Neighborhoods Experience High Food Insecurity
A study from Des Moines found that households in historically redlined parts of town are more likely to have to seek help from food pantries.
Alabama: Trump Terminates Settlements for Black Communities Harmed By Raw Sewage
Trump deemed the landmark civil rights agreement “illegal DEI and environmental justice policy.”
Study: Maui’s Plan to Convert Vacation Rentals to Long-Term Housing Could Cause Nearly $1 Billion Economic Loss
The plan would reduce visitor accommodation by 25% resulting in 1,900 jobs lost.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Wind Energy on the Rise Despite Federal Policy Reversal
The Trump administration is revoking federal support for renewable energy, but demand for new projects continues unabated.
Passengers Flock to Caltrain After Electrification
The new electric trains are running faster and more reliably, leading to strong ridership growth on the Bay Area rail system.
Texas Churches Rally Behind ‘Yes in God’s Back Yard’ Legislation
Religious leaders want the state to reduce zoning regulations to streamline leasing church-owned land to housing developers.
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.
Caltrans
Smith Gee Studio
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