Why Planning Is Essential to Solving California’s Housing Crisis

California needs more sustainable, transit-oriented, urban development, like that being developed at Metro’s North Hollywood station in Los Angeles. Image© Gensler

Cities across the country need more housing but aren’t building it. In California, this challenge has become a crisis. Despite the state’s booming economy, which recently surpassed that of the United Kingdom to become the world's fifth largest economy, California is struggling with record levels of homelessness and has lost more than one million residents to other statesover the past decade as middle and low income families flee the highest-in-the-nation housing costs. In response, politicians and policymakers are considering dramatic changes, which could have profound effects on the planning, design, and development of cities across the state. For planners, architects, and designers this presents opportunity to rethink our role in shaping how our cities grow and change.

Click to read more ...

Student Housing Trends: The Transformation of Co-Living in College

Blackstone Residence Hall, Image © Gensler

Several months ago we wrote about the new emergence of innovative co-living solutions: development projects where shared living spaces and amenities are attached to private sleeping areas to create a more communal (and affordable) urban housing experience. Many responded that it sounded like grown-ups living in a college dormitory, so it’s only natural that new names in the student housing market are taking this concept one step further.

Click to read more ...

The Future of Housing: Co-Living for London's Makers and Creators

WeWork’s co-working environment ©WeWork

The shifting dynamics of the office has seen a recent proliferation of companies offering shared work environments such as WeWork and Level39. These co-working centres offer the services of a traditional office, while curing some of the isolation felt by work-at-home professionals and independent contractors. More than just providing a physical space for the virtual office, these environments are fostering networking, shared energy, and a sense of community. It is a cost-effective model that is successfully meeting the practical needs of today’s flexible professionals. What if this same model were applied to residential living?

Click to read more ...