• Arlington missing middle law struck down

    While missing middle housing is often touted as an answer to rising housing prices, a Virginia court struck down a statute in Arlington, Virginia in late September. A group of property owners sued Arlington County (effectively a satellite city to DC) over its law allowing up to six dwelling units...Read more

  • A model and microcosm for housing solutions

    Kalamazoo represents our nationwide housing problem, but the City also has a four-part strategy to create more units that add to neighborhoods and affordability.
    Kalamazoo is a microcosm of a nationwide housing problem, The New York Times writes, explaining that Michigan is a “mitten-shaped miniature of what the entire country has gone through,” and the City is representative of the state. According to Zillow, the median home value in Kalamazoo and...Read more

  • Twenty years of retrofit with a form-based code

    The regulations to transform the Columbia Pike suburban strip in Arlington were a milestone for form-based codes. A gathering of urbanists reviewed ongoing progress with 3,400 housing units, mixed-use, and public space built in the last 20 years.
    On September 28 th , the CNU DC | Mid-Atlantic Chapter of urbanists held a 20-year review and walking tour of the form-based code (FBC) for a former 3.5-mile strip-commercial portion of Columbia Pike in Arlington County, Virginia. The Pike aligns with the Pentagon, which employs 26,000 military...Read more

  • Sacramento adopts progressive Missing Middle code

    The citywide legislation tailors missing middle options to different neighborhoods, and a sliding scale floor-area ratio (FAR) supports more attainable building types.
    Sacramento’s new citywide Missing Middle Housing (MMH) ordinance is one of the most progressive and comprehensive in the US. Based on a study by Opticos Design, the interim ordinance applies to the city of 528,000 but adjusts the requirements and allowances according to what will work in individual...Read more