Homelessness

Los Angeles, California

Judge's Ruling Will Force L.A. to Reckon With Skid Row

A federal judge has ruled that the city and county of Los Angeles, home to the nation's largest population of people experiencing homelessness, must overcome the development delays that have prevented the creation of new supportive housing.

April 21, 2021 - Los Angeles Times

Austin, Texas

Tiny Homes Village Plans Big Expansion in Austin

The Community First Village, which offers homes and supportive services for people experiencing homelessness, is adding 127 acres to a 27-acre site.

April 18, 2021 - Urbanize Austin

Texas water tower

Abilene, Texas, Declares Victory Against Veteran and Chronic Homelessness

How a small central Texan city reached "functional zero" for veteran and chronic homelessness.

April 13, 2021 - Next City

Homeless Encampment

The Homelessness Crisis Deepened, Even Before the Pandemic

New numbers from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development show "devastating" growth in the number of unhoused people in the United States in January 2020.

March 24, 2021 - NPR

Coronavirus and Homelessness

As the Pandemic Continues, Officials Look to Long-Term Housing Options with Hotels

Advocates point to a bevy of successes in slowing the spread of the virus, but authorities struggle with cost burden.

March 23, 2021 - Shelterforce Magazine

HUD

HUD Won't Help With Back Rent Until Eviction Moratoriums Are Gone

Eviction prevention was an eligible use for CARES Act money...until HUD decided that it's not worth preventing evictions until they are under 14 days away.

February 10, 2021 - Shelterforce Magazine

Donner Lofts Affordable Housing, San Jose, California

Private Sector Coalition Urges California to Invest in Affordable Housing

A new plan calls for increased funding for housing and supportive services to relieve the state's housing crisis and end homelessness.

February 8, 2021 - The Mercury News

Sixth Street, Austin

Austin Reallocates Police Funding to Homeless Housing and Services

The city is using the redistributed money to purchase hotels for permanent housing and provide supportive services.

February 8, 2021 - Curbed

Los Angeles Homeless

Homeless Counts Fall Short in Gathering Accurate Statistics

Assessing the scale of homelessness in the United States is surprisingly difficult, with statistics failing to capture the diversity of unhoused people and their situations.

February 4, 2021 - The New York Times

How Democrats Can Fix the Affordable Housing Crisis

With Democrats taking back the Senate, can the Biden administration go beyond immediate-term rent relief to win more ambitious housing solutions?

February 1, 2021 - Shelterforce Magazine

Homeless Camp

HUD's New 'Find Shelter' Website Offers Support for Struggling Americans

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development launched the Find Shelter tool earlier in January.

January 21, 2021 - U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

Downtown Houston

Fifth Ward Residents Oppose Houston's Interstate Expansion

The downtown freeway expansion will displace thousands of housed and unhoused residents and hundreds of small businesses.

January 13, 2021 - Houston Press

California Shelter-in-Place

Planning and the Pandemic: Trends From 2020

If ever there was a doubt about the sheer depth and breadth of intersectionality found in the practice and theory of planning, the pandemic provides daily reminders.

January 5, 2021 - James Brasuell

Homeless

Project Homekey Crosses Major Threshold

California's effort to create emergency supportive housing options during the pandemic has completed a large-scale acquisition process.

January 3, 2021 - Office of Governor Gavin Newsom

Protected Bike Lane

Seattle's Homeless Bearing the Brunt of Helmet Citations

Almost half of bike helmet citations in the city are issued to people experiencing homelessness.

December 28, 2020 - Crosscut

Coronavirus and Homelessness

'State of the Nation's Housing 2020' Report Traces Impact of COVID-19

The Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies releases its "The State of the Nation’s Housing 2020" report last month.

December 21, 2020 - Housing Matters

Suburban Seattle

Citywide Zoning Reform Approved in Everett

Few cities are accomplishing such a swift and sweeping overhaul of its land use regulations as Everett, Washington, which just wrapped up its second major planning initiative in as many years on its way to launching a third.

December 17, 2020 - The Urbanist

Moms 4 Housing

A Dark Night for the Right to Housing Movement

After a string of high-profile successes in places as geographically distant as Philadelphia and the East Bay Area, an ugly episode in L.A. County the day before Thanksgiving dealt a brutal setback to the burgeoning right to housing movement.

December 1, 2020 - LAist

Potted Plants

Tiny Homes Village Planned in St. Louis

St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson hopes to use CARES Act funding to 50 new homes for homeless living in the city.

November 18, 2020 - St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Arizona Canal

Phoenix Takes a New Approach on Homelessness

Phoenix is centering housing—affordable housing, permanent supportive housing, and eviction protections—in a new planning framework designed to reduce the number of homeless people living on the streets of the city.

November 4, 2020 - Arizona Republic

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.

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.