Could Fewer Cars Mean Higher Home Values?
Filed under: News Here's a thought experiment: picture your nearest subdivision with for-sale signs dotting the yards. Now picture a high-rise downtown with easy access to theaters and restaurants,...
View ArticleToll Brothers, the Elephant of Housing, Comes to Dumbo
Filed under: News,Lifestyle Toll Brothers, a national homebuilder that has struggled to implement its plain-vanilla housing formula in New York City's most populous borough, has paid $8.6 million for a...
View ArticleAre E-Car Charging Stations The Next Must-have Amenity?
Filed under: DesignCould recharging stations for electric cars be the next must-have accessory in upscale housing, now that wine cellars and bathrooms the size of some apartments are out of vogue?...
View ArticleTreasury Ends A Successful Aid Program
Filed under: NewsThe Treasury Department recently announced it was ending a little known program that has successfully stoked states and cities with $23 billion in credit to boost their housing finance...
View ArticleCheap Lube Costs Lives in NYC
Filed under: News,LifestyleHidden away in the basement of many big New York City buildings is a dirty secret that could be costing New Yorkers their health, even their lives: boilers that burn cheap...
View ArticleLose the Car, Keep Your House?
Filed under: Design,NewsAttention lenders: pedestrians are better risks! A new study of mortgage defaults in three cities concludes that people who live in areas where they don't need a car are less...
View ArticleReplace Your Old Driveway with One that Sucks (Water)
Filed under: DesignGreen roofs are pretty, energy-efficient, and easy to understand. But they're expensive to set up and often can't coexist with a house design due to load-bearing issues. So why not...
View ArticleDoes This Building Make Me Look Fat?
Filed under: DesignEvery February 2, hundreds of (health) nuts run up New York City's Empire State Building. But the city as a whole, despite its culture of walking and seemingly insane runners, is...
View ArticleGreening Codes to Save Green
Filed under: NewsEnergy codes, the laws that set minimum levels for energy efficiency in buildings, are getting updates throughout the U.S., most ambitiously in New York City. The changes that can make...
View ArticleGreen Benefits? 'None' Concedes Developer
Filed under: Design,NewsYou see them advertised all over: those shiny new buildings that are both luxurious and eco-friendly. But does buying a "green" unit make you better off? Not according to the...
View ArticleAtlanta Keeps Property Taxes Up, Poor Neighborhoods Down
Filed under: News,LifestyleAs if foreclosure-wracked neighborhoods aren't suffering enough, it seems they're also paying more in taxes. According to a study released yesterday by the Atlanta...
View ArticleAn Architect's Journey into Haiti
Filed under: Design,NewsShortly after the devastating earthquake struck Port-Au-Prince, noted architect pioneer Andres Duany flew to Haiti with plans for building durable, affordable housing in the...
View ArticleWhat Keeps New York Livable? Lots of Things, Including Cars
Filed under: LifestyleIt may be hard to believe, but a well-organized group of folks think New York City is too friendly to cars. And these folks have brought positive changes in New York over the past...
View ArticleHarlem Developer Gets Creative to Pull Off Financing
Filed under: DesignThe Jonathan Rose Companies had to worry a little in 2008, when a 10-parcel site it planned to develop as a rental with the City of New York in East Harlem sat idle because it...
View ArticleNew York Tenants Take Over Buildings With Small Downpayments
Filed under: LifestyleTenants: have you ever thought you could do a better job keeping up your building than your landlord does? With help from a tireless advocate, some New York City renters are about...
View ArticleAffordable Housing Finds a Home in New Hampshire
Filed under: News,Economy,LifestyleWhat's the first phrase that "New Hampshire" brings to mind? Do you think "town hall meeting," "tax-free liquor" or "outer Boston suburb"? You'd get, at most, partial...
View ArticleDrew Carey Is Wrong About Cleveland
Urban planning is architecture's less glamorous sibling: If architecture gets Brad Pitt as a celebrity student, it's only fitting that planning gets TV's Drew Carey. Carey grew up in Cleveland, a city...
View ArticleWill Right-to-Rent Act Rescue Foreclosed Owners?
If your lender forecloses on your mortgage but lets you stay in your house as a tenant, is your real-estate saga more likely to have a happy ending? A new law making its way through the House of...
View ArticleFannie Mae in Talks on Green Energy Initiative
Filed under: News,EconomyFannie Mae still speaks loudly in the housing market, and a quiet letter it sent has led to intense negotiation about the future of green financing that could seriously affect...
View ArticleBrooklyn Condo Rewrites NYC Luxury Pricing
Filed under: News,LifestyleOK, kids. Get out your pencils and show your work: When something new in a former industrial area costs less than half of something old in a classic neighborhood, will lots...
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