Some good resources for learning about urban planning and housing:

How we got into this mess:

• The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America
• The Geography of Nowhere: The Rise and Decline of America's Man-Made Landscape
• How to Kill a City: Gentrification, Inequality, and the Fight for the Neighborhood by P.E. Moskowitz

The pre-oil crisis/hippie era:

Books by Alex Wade, an architect who started practicing in the 60s and is currently semi retired. One of the earlier pioneers of small, independent houses.

• A Design and Construction Handbook for Energy-Saving Houses by Alex Wade
• 30 Energy Efficient Houses... You Can Build by Alex Wade
• Alex Wade's Guide To Affordable Houses by Alex Wade

Books on modern alternative housing:

• Microshelters: 59 Creative Cabins, Tiny Houses, Tree Houses, and Other Small Structures by Derek "Deek" Diedricksen

More modern books on improving neighborhoods:

• Pocket Neighborhoods: Creating Small-Scale Community in a Large-Scale World by Ross Chapin, Sarah Susanka
• Urbanism in the Age of Climate Change by Peter Calthorpe
• The Battle for the Life and Beauty of the Earth: A Struggle Between Two World-Systems by Christopher W. Alexander, Hansjoachim Neis (Contributor) , Maggie Moore Alexander (Contributor)
• A New Theory of Urban Design by Christopher W. Alexander, Hajo Neis , Artemis Anninou , Ingrid King (Goodreads Author)