What's the deal with "missing middle" housing?

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by mhays

Condo laws make all new condos hard in many places, but especially small buildings. Legislatures have been softening some of these laws.

I think this is really the next big dragon to slay. It seems like there is a consensus around zoning reform, whether it's city governments leading the way or thru state pre-emption.

But the American dream is homeownership, not perma-renting. And Millennials/Gen Z are surprisingly open to condos as an alternative to SFH, where the law allows them... but the liability laws in many states have basically killed the condo market there.

Single stair is helpful with affordability and architectural quality, but it's not a dealbreaker for missing middle, Chicago manages to have tons of missing middle despite requiring 2 stairs (it helps that one stair can be exterior up to 3 stories).

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

These neighborhoods were nearly killed by a thousand cuts, and to heal 'em we're gonna need a thousand band-aids, not magic bullets (though custom one-off large-scale stuff is certainly welcome too!).

South lakefront grew by 7.6% last decade. I can't wait to see where it's at in 2030.

Yes, the south lakefront is quietly the most exciting story in Chicago development that we rarely talk about. I do hope we get more midrise clusters around the Green Line stations though. It should be Lakeview densities, and you're not gonna get there with 3-flats alone.