Author: Peter Slavin

Peter Slavin is a freelance journalist based near Washington, D.C. in Oakton, Va.

Articles by Peter Slavin

• Harvard Study Finds U.S. Rental Affordability in Crisis Despite Housing Recovery
  Published on June 29, 2016 in
  While the U.S. rental market has continued to expand, the markets for single-family houses and condominiums is still recovering. Affordability is an acute problem in both, according to the findings of the latest State of the Nation’s Housing report, issued by Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies.
• Minneapolis, St. Paul Lead Rankings of Top U.S. Parks
  Published on June 06, 2016 in
  Minneapolis was rated the big American city with the best park system for the third straight year, according to the Trust for Public Land’s fifth annual ParkScore® index. Minneapolis edged out St. Paul for the top spot among the 100 largest U.S. cities. The Twin Cities tied for first last year.
• Hidden Advantages of Lower-Carbon-Emission Cities: $17 Trillion in Possible Savings
  Published on November 04, 2015 in
  Investing in lower-emission public transport, using more renewable energy, and increasing efficiency in commercial buildings and waste management in cities across the globe could generate $17 trillion in savings in current dollars by 2050, according to a recent report from the New Climate Economy, an advocacy group.
• Walkable Downtowns Drawing Companies and Talent
  Published on July 01, 2015 in
  Suburban office parks, which developed and spread far and wide as businesses left American cities, are now losing ground to those same cities, according to a new report by Smart Growth America.
• Making Park Conservancies Work
  Published on June 10, 2015 in
  Declaring that the major parks in America’s largest cities are enjoying “a golden age,” the Trust for Public Land says that conservancies—the private bodies that work in close partnership with municipal agencies to aid urban parks—deserve part of the credit.
• Cities Outpaced Suburbs in Job Growth during the Great Recession
  Published on April 08, 2015 in
  From 2007 to 2011, jobs grew faster in many downtowns than in surrounding areas, reversing a nearly 60-year-long trend in the United States. This is according to research by City Observatory, a think tank based in Portland, Oregon.
• In 13 States, Land Banks Stabilizing Weakened Municipalities
  Published on January 23, 2015 in Economy, Market & Trends
  From 1971 to 2008, only five states passed legislation enabling land banks; but in the last six years, another eight have done so. As vacancies and blight have plagued parts of the United States still recovering from recession and the mortgage foreclosure crisis, so too has land banking grown. There are now some 120 land banks and land-banking programs in 13 states, with West Virginia joining the list in 2014.
• Housing the Next Wave of Seniors
  Published on October 13, 2014 in
  A wake-up call regarding the rising tide of older Americans on course to swamp the nation’s housing resources has been issued by Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies and AARP.
• Factoring Transit Costs into Housing Affordability
  Published on September 10, 2014 in
  To determine a city’s affordability, housing costs cannot be viewed in a vacuum. Transportation costs are also a major factor, according to a new policy brief, Location Affordability in Large U.S. Cities: Variability among Types of Households, from the Citizens Budget Commission (CBC) in New York City.
• The Cost of Retrofitting Multifamily for Resilience
  Published on July 31, 2014 in
  A new report from NYU’s Furman Center underscores the challenges of retrofitting New York City’s multifamily housing stock against the threat of rising sea levels.