Building Permits
Cities, States Use AI and GIS to Make Permitting Less of a Pain
Across the country, state and local governments have turned to AI to optimize their building permitting processes. The efficiencies they’ve achieved are impressive and welcomed by applicants and government agencies alike.
Judge Halts Permits for Beverly Hills Home Renovations Over Lack of Affordable Housing
The city is two years late in developing a housing plan that is compliant with state laws.
Colorado Erases Local Growth Limits
Colorado legislators passed a law earlier this year that preempts local limits on the number of building permits issued every year.
Pre-Approved ADUs Now Available in Sacramento
The city of Sacramento is making it easier to develop accessory dwelling units.
Raleigh Launches Pre-Approved ‘ADU Gallery’
The city wants to streamline the process and lower construction costs for accessory dwelling units in order to boost the city’s housing supply without dramatically altering neighborhoods.
Scandal: Large-Scale Developments Approved Without Architect's Involvement
A New York Times investigation has revealed evidence of a development company repeatedly misleading the New York City Department of Buildings.
With Regulations Loosened, Granny Flat Construction Soars in California
Less restrictive permit laws and pre-fabricated, pre-approved building options are spurring more homeowners to build backyard additions.
Searching for a Path to Legalized Rooming Houses
Toronto could legalize rooming houses, also known as multi-tenant or lodging houses, in an effort to bring the city's many unpermitted examples of this low-income affordable housing type up to humane standards of health and safety.
Kanye West Makes More Permitting Trouble in Chicago
Kanye West is renovating his childhood home on the South Side of Chicago, but hasn't always had the permits to do the work until after the fact.
Kanye West's Unpermitted Vision for Housing Utopia Has Been Demolished
Kanye had 45 days to submit plans for the unpermitted buildings built on his property in Calabasas, California. Instead, the rapper tore the buildings down.
Kanye West Lacks Permits for the Prototype Housing Units He Built
Kanye West's first foray into the development business is off to an inauspicious start.
Housing Starts Hit Two-Year Low
Housing starts and permits are slowing nationwide. The current pace of construction would have been considered a trough in pre-recession economic cycles.
New Housing Construction Drops 41 Percent in San Francisco
Building permits aren't the same thing as new buildings, as San Francisco proved once again in 2018.
Cheaper, Easier Affordable Housing Development Proposed in San Francisco
San Francisco Mayor London Breed is proposing major reforms of the permitting process for affordable housing and accessory dwelling unit projects in the city. The idea is that cheaper projects are much easier to build.
False Construction Permits Go 'Unchecked' in New York
New York habitually lets property owners begin construction without disclosing that their buildings are rent-stabilized or occupied by tenants.
Building Boom: Study Reveals Effects of California's 2016 Accessory Dwelling Units Law
Permits have shot up after California passed a landmark law in 2016 to make it easier to permit and construct accessory dwelling units (ADUs).
A Quick Look at State-By-State Building Permit Data
Building permit data provides a barometer of the development market, which is a reflection of development processes and planning regimes. The arc of the country's housing construction trends bends toward Texas.
Oakland Hoping to Provide Safer Pedestrian Infrastructure at Construction Sites
"Every reasonable effort should be made to avoid and minimize construction impacts on pedestrian, bicycle, and bus facilities in Oakland," according to a guidance released by the city of Oakland earlier in 2017.
Pittsburgh Launches New Permit and Code Tracking Website
The city of Pittsburgh launched a Buildingeye website to provide new access to the development and approval process in the city.
Denver Planning Department Hiring to Keep Up With Permit Backlog
As Denver's development industry achieves post-recession levels of activity, the city's Department of Community Planning and Development needs staff for pre-recession levels of capacity.
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.
City of Albany
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
