Lloyd Alter (@lloydalter) Design / Urban Design
June 2, 2015

Brandon Donelly writes in his terrific urbanism newsletter about how most people still want to raise kids in a house (not an apartment).

This isn’t a big sample size, but the trend appears more or less flat. 89% of respondents who already have kids are already living in a ground-related unit. And when people were asked to project where they would like to be living once they have kids, 83% said they want a house or townhouse.

Brandon mentions townhouses, but I think really ignores the fact that there is a whole world of built form between detached single family homes and apartments. Daniel Parolek of Opticos Design calls it The Missing Middle:

Missing Middle is a range of multi-unit or clustered housing types compatible in scale with single-family homes that help meet the growing demand for walkable urban living. These types provide diverse housing options along a spectrum of affordability, including duplexes, fourplexes, and bungalow courts, to support walkable communities, locally-serving retail, and public transportation options. Missing Middle Housing provides a solution to the mismatch between the available U.S. housing stock and shifting demographics combined with the growing demand for walkability.

The major benefit of missing middle building types is that they get higher density by stacking smaller units in ways that maintain connection to grade.

Most Missing Middle housing types have smaller unit sizes. The challenge is to create small spaces that are well designed, comfortable, and usable. The ultimate unit size will depend on the context, but smaller-sized units can help developers keep their costs down and attract a different market of buyers and renters who are not being provided for in all markets. READ MORE

The Missing Middle is another model for providing dense family housing