Why the housing crisis demands that we focus on building smaller—not bigger.
Join us for a free presentation on August 11 at 12pm.
Between huge apartment buildings and single-family homes lies the “missing middle” of housing—those duplexes and modest four-family structures that are probably dotted throughout your city and you’ve never noticed them. Mid-sized housing can be transformative in enabling people of different family sizes and income levels to afford to live in the neighborhoods of their choosing, without dramatically altering their character.
Unfortunately, this historic building type, which works so well in a variety of neighborhoods and densities, is no longer regularly built or utilized, partly because zoning codes and building regulations have made them a real challenge.
Daniel Parolek, an architect and urban planner who founded Opticos Design thinks it’s time to change that. He’s written a new book, Missing Middle Housing: Thinking Big and Building Small to Respond to Today’s Housing Crisis and in a few weeks, he’ll be sharing his insights on a free webcast, open to all Strong Towns readers.
Join Daniel Parolek on August 11 at 12pm Central to learn:
what “missing middle” means and why it’s important for your city or town,
typical barriers to the delivery of Missing Middle Housing types as they relate to policy, planning, and zoning law,
how the Missing Middle concept is being applied around the world, including case studies of how creative developers are delivering these types and the responses from communities of buyers and renters.
Sign up for the free webcast, August 11 at 12pm Central.
Allowing housing units to be built on small or irregular lots is a gamechanger for cities that are fighting the housing crisis. Here’s why that allowance is so important and how three developers are using small units and creativity to bring more housing options to their communities.