This illustration shows single-family housing on the left, larger apartment/ condo buildings on the right, and missing middle housing types in the center.
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How to Ensure That Missing Middle Housing Is Not Missing From Your City’s Policy, Planning, and Zoning by Daniel Parolek and Tony Perez Over the past 10 years, cities and towns nationwide have been taking a step back and rethinking the way they plan and zone to address the growing need for housing. In California, the trend is more significant because of the massive demand for homes. Part of this rethinking involves “missing middle” housing, which continues to attract the attention of a wide range of communities and individuals. Three key reasons account for the appeal of missing middle housing: it’s a simple approach, it addresses housing choice at the human scale, and best of all, it fits in or near existing neighborhoods far better than large apartment buildings. Missing middle housing types such as duplexes, fourplexes, five- to 10-unit mansion apartments, cottage courts, and courtyard
apartments were once — and can be again — an important part of the solution to the housing shortage and could be in every city’s toolbox.
Defining Missing Middle Housing Missing middle housing is the range of multi-unit or clustered housing types between single-family houses and larger apartment buildings. Unlike other types of buildings that contain multiple units, missing middle types are all “house scale” — that is to say, compatible in scale with single-family homes. Missing middle housing helps to address the growing demand for walkable communities, respond to shifting household demographics, and meet the need for more housing choices at various price points. Such housing can
be for rent or for sale. If you walk through most neighborhoods built prior to the 1940s, you will likely find a mix of these housing types thoughtfully integrated on blocks that also have single-family homes. You’ll also notice that these housing types were seamlessly integrated into beautiful, desirable neighborhoods that mostly — but not entirely — consisted of singlefamily homes. These neighborhoods also have amenities that residents can walk to, such as shopping, restaurants and coffee shops, services, and transit stops. The term “middle” has a second meaning related to affordability or attainability levels. These types of housing have historically delivered attainable choices to middle-income families without subsidies and continue to play a role in providing
Daniel Parolek is an urban designer and architect with Opticos Design; he can be reached at daniel.parolek@opticosdesign.com. Tony Perez is a senior associate at Opticos Design; he can be reached at tony.perez@opticosdesign.com.
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