Thinking Big about Building Small

Take a walk through the older residential neighborhoods in your town and, if you’re paying attention, you might notice something special. While these neighborhoods are probably home to buildings that are only a couple stories tall and appear much like any other block of single-family homes, look closer and you’ll see that many houses actually have room for two or three families.

Count the doorbells, the mailboxes, the house numbers, and you’ll find that the sorts of housing we’ve been building for centuries allow for many people to enjoy the amenities of a quiet residential neighborhood at an affordable price by fitting a few more families into each building.

Our friend, the planner Daniel Parolek, coined the term “missing middle” to describe this type of housing. It’s the housing that falls in between single-family detached homes and large apartment buildings. It’s rowhouses and duplexes and cottage courts—and it has the power to bring affordability back into your community today.

Parolek recently joined Strong Towns for a public webcast where he shared from the wisdom in his new book, Missing Middle Housing: Thinking Big and Building Small to Respond to Today’s Housing Crisis. Catch that webcast recording below.

If you want to dig ever deeper, make sure to also check out the follow-up Q&A session we did with Dan Parolek after his presentation. He answers a ton of important and detailed questions about how to advocate for and build missing middle housing in your community.

Select Strong Towns articles about missing-middle housing:

• “Where the Missing-Middle Isn’t Missing,” by Daniel Herriges

• “8 Things Your Town Can Do to Add More Housing (Without Spending a Dime),” by Nolan Gray

• “5 Ways To Make the Missing Middle Less Missing,” by Daniel Herriges

• “Is ‘Gentle Density’ Enough?” by Daniel Herriges

• “Making Normal Neighborhoods Legal Again,” by Daniel Herriges

Cover image: Duplex by Opticos Design

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Creating Housing Opportunities in a Strong Town

Want to foster a bottom-up community of builders to respond to your local housing needs? Want to develop a plan of action you can implement right away? Our brand new housing course will show you how.

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