Housing Crisis

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COVID-19

Nine Months Later: How the Pandemic Is Changing Communities

Planetizen shares the latest in a series of compendia tackling the effects of the pandemic, now and in the future, for cities and communities.

December 8, 2020 - James Brasuell

Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta to Tackle Affordability by Zoning Reform

A new initiative designed to implement the goals of the One Atlanta Housing Affordability Action Plan was announced last week in Atlanta.

December 7, 2020 - The Atlanta Voice

COVID-19 Eviction Crisis

Evictions Caused 433,700 Excess Covid Infections, 10,700 Deaths, Study Says

A new study connects evictions to the spread of the coronavirus. Evictions continued in huge numbers during the pandemic despite a patchwork of eviction protections at multiple layers of government.

December 4, 2020 - Curbed

Free Street

On Rent Control and a Green New Deal, Portland, Maine Voters Go Where Others Don't Dare

Rent control was dealt another high-profile setback in California, and the Green New Deal is a hot button issue stuck in limbo in Congress. Both efforts got the go-ahead from voters in Portland, Maine in November.

December 1, 2020 - Next City

Vancouver Skyline Bikes

Vancouver Again Raises its Empty Homes Tax

The Vancouver Empty Homes Tax will soon be three times as high as it was when adopted in 2017.

November 29, 2020 - CTV News Vancouver

Multi-Tenant Housing

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.

November 18, 2020 - Yahoo News via Toronto Star

Coronavirus

National Rent Debt Projected to Reach $7.2 Billion by the End of 2020

The weight of the pandemic is hanging around millions of renters' necks.

November 16, 2020 - Orange County Register

Massachusetts State Capitol

Massachusetts Showed States How to Create an Eviction Ban. Now It’s Backpedaling

The Massachusetts eviction moratorium—one of the strongest in the nation—expired, just in time for winter. How did this happen?

November 16, 2020 - Shelterforce Magazine

Housing protest

Lessons From Rent Control's Latest Election Rejection

California voters, with a reputation for liberal politics, have repeatedly refused to approve statewide rent control laws at the ballot box.

November 12, 2020 - Los Angeles Times

Glenwood Green Acres, Philadelphia

One Key, Underappreciated Affordable Housing Strategy: Repairing Existing Homes

The city of Philadelphia offers a case study for the challenges and potential benefits of home repair programs.

November 12, 2020 - The Philadelphia Inquirer

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

Resilient Home

New Collaborations for Land Banks and Community Land Trusts

Land banks and community land trusts are finding new ways to work together in light of the ongoing housing affordability crisis and the new economic pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic.

November 4, 2020 - Land Lines

Foreclosure Sign

Real Estate Defaults Are Coming. Don’t Waste Them.

Here’s what the federal government should do to grab the opportunity to create affordable housing.

November 1, 2020 - Shelterforce Magazine

Coronavirus

Tracking the COVID-19 Eviction Crisis

Advocates have sounded alarms since the pandemic's outset about the potential for unprecedented waves of evictions as Americans deal with the economic consequences of the pandemic, but authoritative real-time data on the rental market is lacking.

October 29, 2020 - Brookings

Moms 4 Housing

Pandemic Uncertainties Could Push Even More Black Residents Out of the Urban Bay Area

Add the coronavirus pandemic to an already deeply troubled housing market and the Bay Area has a recipe for even more displacement in a region already facing a massive demographic shift.

October 28, 2020 - Sfist

Texas Townhomes

Four Steps for Effective Land Use Reform

Land use and zoning reform is not a magic wand, and effective changes to any planning regime change requires careful work. A new report Urban Institute provides case studies and guidance on how to achieve desired outcomes from a reform process.

October 27, 2020 - Urban Institute

Downtown Los Angeles

'The Affordable City' Offers Solutions for the U.S. Housing Affordability Crisis

An excerpt from the new book by Shane Phillips, "The Affordable City," published by Island Press.

October 21, 2020 - Shane Phillips

Vancouver, British Columbia

Vancouver Affordable Housing Programs Could Be the Envy of the Continent

It will take a combination of local, provincial, and federal funding, but Vancouver, B.C. recently approved the most ambitious vision anywhere in North America to directly address homelessness and housing affordability challenges.

October 21, 2020 - Globe and Mail

Tenant Protections

Another Rent Control Initiative on the Ballot in California

There are significant differences between Proposition 21, a statewide rent control measure on the ballot in California, compared to a similar measure defeated soundly by voters in 2018.

October 12, 2020 - Los Angeles Times

Chicago, Illinois

A Pro-Development Approach to Housing Affordability and Economic Growth

Decades of building housing on the fringes of metropolitan areas have mired the United States in a housing affordability crisis defined by a widening gap between the haves and the have nots.

October 6, 2020 - Vox

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.