Our city is actually in the process of changing the zoning map to encourage more “middle housing,” but it’s not defined in terms of price point. They define the term as small multi-unit projects (smaller than mid-rise), such as 2-3 units on a previously single family lot. Is this the type of housing development you’re referring to?
I’m all for it, except for the problem of adding more vehicles along with the increased population density. Neighborhoods also need to support car-free living for a significant percentage of the population, with better public transportation and walkable local everyday businesses such as grocery stores.
Many suburban places seem to be in the anti-Goldilocks density range, where density is too high for personal cars (that tend to get into traffic jams) but too low for effective mass transit (which also means that many people are unwilling to walk or bicycle the distances involved).
Increasing population will also encourage other businesses to come to a town. Businesses need to know they have a population density that will support their businesses.
So…I guess my town also just doesn’t have enough people for that (it’s a semirural town)
So I haven’t been following the debate very closely (or at all) but this seems to be the crux of the problem. It seems like the county defined “middle” similarly to how you described - allowing small multi-unit projects to be built on a previously single family lot. Thinking, I assume, that a few duplexes or row houses or townhouses would come in that would be more affordable to the cohort that can’t afford the overpriced SFHs in the area. Instead, developers are buying the limited lots that are zoned this way and building row houses / townhouses that are all high end and with price points at $1M+. Totally defeating the stated purpose.
That is a worry, too. Perhaps my positive feeling towards small multi-unit buildings is rooted in nostalgia, having lived in neighborhoods that traditionally have plenty of perfectly ordinary 2-4 unit houses (Portland OR, Cambridge MA).
Ditto here in the greater Seattle area. One room on each floor (bedroom ensuite down, living in the middle, another ensuite upstairs). No parking. Not even a driveway. Rooftop decks… what can go wrong with that in our rainy climate? Priced at close to $1M. I’m all for having stairs as they provide exercise, but that setup is ridiculous.
Any counterexample locations where zoning for middle housing has resulted in actual livable, affordable new units?
Trying to educate myself on pros and cons, because I literally received the notice of public hearing yesterday for this zoning change (which affects our neighborhood).
My community is also looking at re-zoning and densifying in an attempt at creating more affordable housing. So far, all we’ve seen in areas where they’ve already allowed it were $1 million+ townhouses. The reality is that our land value is simply too high for developers to recoup enough profit in affordable housing unless they build a high rise.
We also lack affordable retail/commercial space/rents. Our town is seeing a steady migration of small shops, especially boutiques and restaurants to our neighboring community to our north.
I’m not a fan of our current mayor who has his eyes on his next gig, not our community.
In terms of what were are missing in terms of retails:
independent bookstore (we have one but just one)
a shoe store
gourmet market
home/cooking store
Many of the things listed above are available in the town 5 miles from here. Market research would tell many retailers that we don’t have the traffic to support some of these things.
I’m not sure I’ve seen a shoe store in ages. The neighboring town used to have two. There is an independent bookstore there. About 10 miles away there is an outdoor mall that has a LOT of different things, and is situated where businesses can draw from many neighboring towns.
I don’t expect my town of 6700 residents to have all of these things.
Our small downtown needs a restaurant. Three no longer exist there.
Okay, okay. Other than housing, what does our city not have enough of?
Movie theaters. We used to have a lot of them downtown, showing a mix of big new movies, independent and foreign movies, and old movies. All downtown theaters and most neighborhood theaters are now closed. One teeny tiny neighborhood theater still exists in our city and that’s it.
We have no movie theaters in our town. There was a nice cinatoomany in the neighboring town. Really nice with reclining seats and all. Never reopened after COVID. There is a smaller theater with food service in a neighboring town.
We also need parking. Our downtown is small, and is comprised of mix use buildings. The apartment tenants are supposed to park behind the buildings…but they don’t. Getting businesses to move to our downtown without parking is an issue.
We have many dirt roads in the area. If you want a house with some land you will need to live on a dirt road, or traverse a dirt road to reach it. Ask me how I know.
We also have paved roads riddled with potholes. So we got that going for us, which is nice.
A grocery store that has a salad bar. A food bar would be nice, but at least a salad bar…
New housing maybe? Something like 85% of our housing stock was built before 1985. People here complain about affordable housing here too, though you’d laugh at what we consider unaffordable. But salaries are much lower too.
We were missing a bookstore for about 15 years, but a small independent one opened up a few years back.
Gotcha. I couldn’t remember where you lived. For some reason I thought it was NOVA.
People here complain about the state of our roads. They haven’t seen roads up north! And it just costs so much to pave so little… and then you add the utility department that tears everything up… There’s only so much we can do.
