I’ve written before about the importance of figuring out how to build more density into and around single-family and low-rise neighborhoods. For example, we talked about courtyard housing as a way to create more density and affordability. There’s a great term for this need: the missing middle. And there is a great website called the Missing Middle exploring all the types of housing we could be building between larger apartments and single family home. 

What is the missing middle? 

“Missing Middle” was coined by Daniel Parolek of Opticos Design, Inc. in 2010 to define 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.

The problem for Seattle though is the efforts by some on the City Council to stomp out density created in low-rise zones because of fear of change from neighbors. 

The website is a great resource with great ideas about policy, design, and how to fill in the missing middle. We’re doing every thing we can to keep this potential on the table in years ahead by resisting changes to the low-rise zone that would make filling the missing middle harder to do.