Missing Middle Housing

A growing trend in housing is building more missing middle housing. In most cities, new housing consists of single-family homes, mid-rise or high-rise apartments, and large apartment complexes. In between these “extremes” is the missing middle—duplexes, fourplexes, small apartment buildings, and cottages.

Prior to the 1920s, this assortment of housing options was available in most cities. Indeed, nearly 20 percent of the nation’s housing was middle housing. However, as more and more cities adopted zoning ordinances beginning in the 1920s, single-family zoning, minimum lot sizes, and prohibitions on multi-family housing made middle housing illegal to build. Today, less than 10 percent of the nation’s housing stock fits this description—middle housing is missing from our housing options.

From millennials to emptynesters, an increasing number of Americans want to live in walkable neighborhoods with easy access to restaurants, entertainment, grocers, and retail stores. They want to live in the type of mixed-use neighborhood that zoning makes impossible through single-family zoning and the segregation of residential and commercial land uses.

Across the nation, cities have revised or are considering revisions to their zoning laws to meet both the demand and the need for more housing options. But these changes often meet with great resistance. Many home owners fear that removing single-family mandates will result in a dramatic and unpleasant change in the character of their neighborhood, as well as a decrease in property values.

Certainly, making it legal to build multi-family housing in neighborhoods that are currently zoned for single-family housing will change the character of the neighborhood. But change isn’t always negative, and zoning revisions that allow for restaurants, pubs, and other commercial uses provides an amenity that a growing number of people want. Demand for mixed-use neighborhoods is rising, and communities that embrace this change are likely to benefit economically.

The practical benefits of revising zoning ordinances to allow middle housing are easy to identify. However, the fundamental argument for revising zoning ordinances is moral—property owners have a moral right to use their land as they think best, so long as they do not violate the rights of others to use their land as they choose. Building a duplex or a fourplex in a neighborhood of single-family homes violates nobody’s rights.

Of course, the ideal solution is to simply repeal all zoning ordinances and restore the freedom of builders, developers, and property owners. But repealing zoning is not politically possible today, and so, revisions that restore some freedom is a step in the right direction.