• 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

  • Vermont adopts historic housing reform

    The HOME act allows missing middle housing statewide, reduces parking requirements, targets entitlement delays, and received widespread support.
    Editor's note: Vermont recently became the latest state to eliminate exclusive single family zoning statewide. Municipalities must allow duplexes anywhere single family homes are allowed. In areas served by sewer and water, municipalities must allow multiunit dwellings with four or fewer units to...Read more

  • Learning from Charlotte’s light rail system

    A recent stay in Charlotte for CNU and Strong Towns teaches lessons on prioritizing people in planning rail systems.
    For my recent trip to Charlotte to attend the Strong Towns and Congress for New Urbanism convenings I had planned on staying at an AirBnB in Uptown/Downtown. However, the day before I was to leave, AirBnB canceled on me. Because of this late notice I knew accommodations would be expensive in Uptown...Read more

  • Achieving quality in affordable housing design

    Note: CNU and Public Square are closed the week of June 5, following a successful CNU 31 in Charlotte. Too often affordable housing looks like affordable housing, with mediocre-to-poor materials and details on the outside. In and around Providence, Rhode Island, Union Studio has been designing...Read more