• Houston tackles missing-middle housing with code reform

    Although Houston is famous for having no zoning, its land-use codes are nearly as complicated. Imminent revision of parking, dwelling, and lot size rules could trigger a wave of sorely needed missing middle housing.
    Note: This article first appeared on Strong Towns .​ Houston has long been a poster child for urban planning ills. Mega highways cleave downtown, with an expansion potentially on the way . No zoning regulations have led to a free-for-all with endless rows of townhouses dominating prime...Read more

  • How parking affects missing middle housing

    Missing Middle Housing types are key to affordability, but parking (and zoning that requires off-street parking) impacts the cost. This analysis by Dan Parolek of Opticos Design, author of Missing Middle Housing , shows that fourplexes—one missing middle type—may yield from 21 to 49 units per acre...Read more

  • Building ‘missing middle,’ first step to suburban retrofit

    For much of the last six or seven decades, we’ve seen limited housing options in suburbia—generally single-family housing for sale, or apartment complexes with units for rent. In Gainesville, Florida, a South Carolina developer is offering a different option—namely cottages, for rent, with the...Read more

  • Ending exclusionary zoning is one way out of our housing crisis

    Reforming zoning to allow missing middle housing would create more paths to homeownership and mitigate a national housing shortage.
    The US is experiencing a severe housing crisis that will require a wide toolkit of strategies to mitigate. A recent study released by Up for Growth estimates that there is a 3.8-million-unit housing shortage nationwide, affecting urban, suburban, and rural areas across the country, not just a few...Read more