Suburbs

Suburban Home

Study Finds Seniors Could Be Stuck with Unsellable Homes in the Future

A new paper predicts that home-buying trends among younger generations will lead to a flood of homes that older homeowners will not be able to sell.

August 25, 2020 - UANow

Trump Sign

How Trump's Version of the Suburbs Gets it Wrong

Analysis of Trump's favorability ratings with suburban voters and the demographic trends of recent years could doom his recent messages regarding the Democratic agenda for the suburbs.

August 4, 2020 - The New York Times

The Villages, Florida

The Villages and the Dangers of Holding Too Tightly to the Past

Some parts of The Villages, Florida, the nation's largest retirement community and one of its most popular master planned communities, bear a striking resemblance to the neotraditional development favored by famous early examples of New Urbanism.

July 20, 2020 - James Brasuell

Washington, D.C.

President Trump Stirs the Fair Housing Pot, Again

In a move probably made to appeal to suburban voters in an election year, President Trump sent a late night tweet claiming that the Obama-era Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Rule is having a 'devastating impact' on suburbs.

July 2, 2020 - Business Insider

Suburban Alley

How to Define the Suburban: HUD Survey Sheds New Light

A new HUD survey could help change the way the federal government defines the "suburban"—a notoriously tricky proposition.

July 1, 2020 - Office and Policy Development and Research

Office Building

Who Pays When Corporate Campuses Leave the Suburbs?

When corporations move out of the suburbs, they leaving behind largely unprofitable corporate campuses. Loss of property value and tax revenue follow in the communities they left.

May 28, 2020 - ProPublica

The Windy City

No Slowdown of Out-Migration of Black Residents from Chicago

The city of Chicago continues to see a decline in population, including tens of thousands of African-Americans who have left in recent years.

March 4, 2020 - The New York Times

Texas residential

Affordable Housing Challenges in Beltway Suburbs

More people are moving to suburban counties, but a lack of affordable housing in places such as Loudon County, Virginia, means the suburbs are not an option for a growing number of people.

January 22, 2020 - Greater Greater Washington

Leadership Change Could Lead to Changes in Suburban Oakland County, Michigan

The suburban status quo is due for an update in Michigan's wealthiest county, and a new county executive is ready to lead the county in a new direction.

December 26, 2019 - CityLab

Ontario, Canada

Toronto's Biggest Story of 2019: Mississauga

The city of Mississauga is undergoing a transformation so complete that one Toronto-based write said the suburb is the city's issue of the year.

December 18, 2019 - Toronto Storeys

Hillsboro, Oregon

The Death and Life of Great American…Suburbs?

Long considered beneath serious attention by design and planning elites, suburban settlements in the United States are emerging as key arenas to address crucial environmental, economic, and social issues.

December 17, 2019 - Michael Mehaffy

Suburban Neighborhood

Homeownership—American Dream or Nightmare?

Owning a home has long been considered the ultimate aspiration. But social and economic realities mean the stories about and the path to homeownership are not simple and straightforward.

December 13, 2019 - Curbed

Wildfire Smoke

How Suburbs Can Help the Climate Fight

Rethinking the "brutalscape" of infrastructure that supports the suburbs could be the key to the evolution of suburbs.

December 11, 2019 - The Conversation

Walking the Dog

The Suburbs, Reimagined

Eight experts produce a "manifesto for a new suburbia."

November 14, 2019 - Curbed

aerial view of identical suburban homes

Opinion: The Old Visions of Suburbia Are an Anachronism

Low-density suburbs are on their way out, and the suburbs of the future will better address the present-day needs of the people living in them.

October 7, 2019 - Common Edge

San Francisco Houses

Op-Ed: Only Half of San Francisco is Changing

Using a mid 20th-century painting as his point of reference, Benjamin Schneider points out that the vast, disruptive changes we often associate with San Francisco are only affecting the city's eastern side.

August 22, 2019 - San Francisco Chronicle

Jakarta Skyline

Jakarta's Suburb in the Sky

A rooftop housing development in the Indonesian capital takes the suburb to new heights.

August 13, 2019 - The Guardian

Cul de Sac

Uniform By Design: The Similarities of Suburbs

A Vox video digs into the history of how suburbs came to resemble each other.

August 11, 2019 - Vox

Chicago Suburb

A Frank Discussion About Struggling Suburbs

Many suburban areas outside thriving urban cores are struggling to deliver vital services and maintain property values as job and population growth stagnates. It's time to confront the realities of those communities, according to this article.

August 5, 2019 - Governing

Splash Park

The Myth of the 'Childless City'

It is conventional wisdom that suburbs are more attractive to families with children than cities. But in fact, the most dense urban cores are gaining children to a greater extent than their suburbs.

July 22, 2019 - Michael Lewyn

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.

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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.