Missing middle housing—the cottage court, townhomes and duplexes, and low-rise apartment units, are becoming more essential in city development. Missing middle has shifted from a good to know by planners, city officials, and developers to a need to know. This type of housing unit is becoming increasingly important to single person households and downsizing boomers who want to live in more walkable neighborhoods, an inherent feature of the missing middle neighborhood. By providing a variety of housing options that include these types of units, cities can support economic growth and development. There is also an equity component in this conversation. Where past discriminatory zoning and housing policies have led to income disparities for minority populations, missing middle could help build back generational wealth held from these groups. To keep this home type affordable, technology needs to catch up with the movement. Modular housing can be the future of missing middle housing but is currently lacking in the modular conversation which has only really been tested on large scale apartment projects. To hear more on missing middle housing, check out this episode with author Daniel Parolek on his book Missing Middle Housing: Thinking Big and Building Small to Respond to Today’s Housing Crisis.

Links:

• Missing Middle Housing Book: https://islandpress.org/books/missing-middle-housing
• Missing Middle Housing Website: https://missingmiddlehousing.com/ 
• Form-Based Codes Book: https://islandpress.org/books/form-based-codes 
• Prairie Queen Project: https://opticosdesign.com/work/bungalows-on-the-lake-prairie-queen/ 
• AARP Missing Middle Guide: https://www.aarp.org/livable-communities/housing/info-2020/missing-middle-housing.html
• Opticos Design: https://opticosdesign.com/blog/ 

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