So What Is “Missing Middle Housing” Anyway?

I’m glad you asked!  OK – I guess really I asked it for you – but – there’s a good chance that you may have been thinking it.  So, I just made it easy for you.

Missing Middle Housing is a planned type of housing that is built to blend in with the scale of existing house types to provide more opportunities for people of all incomes and life-stages to live in a walkable community.

Now, there’s a lot to unpack in that last sentence.  And if you’re one of those busy Home Builders who is just assuming you know what this is, humor me and let me break it down for you.

• A Planned Type of Housing – This is added to explain that you actually need to work with a City or Municipality to look at Zoning Ordinances and pro-actively plan for a type of housing that has existed in the area BUT has been “mucked up” (my official term) by Zoning Ordinances.
• To Blend In With The Scale of Existing House Types – I alluded to this above, but the plan is to have housing that looks like houses that are all around the area.  Many of these homes were built throughout the early 1900’s and were not the McMansions of today.  Instead, they are a mix of single-family homes AND homes with multiple residences within them.  Missing Middle housing types are built to be “scaled” to the same sizes as those houses – providing maximum building widths, depths, and heights to buck the trend of building “as big and expensive” as possible to “maximize profit” in a quick turn (the typical homebuilding profit model).
• To Provide More Opportunities For People of All Incomes and Life-Stages To Live – That mix of house types of the past allowed for folks to own and rent side-by-side with one another.  Renters sometimes had a whole house to themselves.  Other times, they only needed a one-bedroom apartment.  Not everyone can (or wants to) own – and I’m including folks from Millennials to Retirees.
• In a Walkable Community – In a world filled with superficial social media sites, more and more people are longing for a “real community.”  My kids are thinking about “getting real” and have a desire to go back to a “dumb phone” to get away from the fakeness of social media.  And there seems to be a surge in recouping a sense of place and true connection.  Those on the other end of their life stage (retirees) have never forgotten that life is about connection, and they remember growing up in a time where walking to the local store was just how it was supposed to be.

This is – essentially – what Missing Middle is addressing.  It’s a movement that has been started by Daniel Parolek and is being addressed by his firm, Opticos Design – the leaders behind the movement for Missing Middle Housing.

They are also the folks behind the excellent website – MissingMiddleHousing.com and the book by the same name.  I just finished the book this weekend, and my mind was spinning with all of the opportunities this concept could offer my local area in Harrisburg, PA.

Why Harrisburg?  And Why Now?

It’s funny how when you start thinking about something, you start seeing it everywhere.

Thinking of a new automobile?  All of a sudden, that model seems to jump out at you as you drive around town.

This same concept happened to me as I read through this book last week.

One news story popped into my social media feed about Harrisburg being one of the top places to retire last week.

And this morning – my local news had a story about how there is a lack of affordable senior housing in the area.  Wait times are months (at best) to years for an affordable apartment.

And a few weeks ago, there was another story that highlighted that Harrisburg leaders are looking for solutions to their problem of abandoned homes that have been sitting vacant for years.

What a weird dichotomy that is.  A top place to retire – but – not enough available housing for those retirees.  And homes/land that have been abandoned around the city.

Home Builders who are looking for a niche to fill might just want to take a look at the Pennsylvania capital area to fill the void.

Couple that void with the stock of existing housing that Missing Middle housing designs/types are meant to mimic – and you have an area ripe for consideration of incorporating this innovative approach to housing.

The housing types shown above are the same types of housing that Missing Middle strives to deliver.  Housing types that fit in and look very much like what is already around.

But the housing types of Missing Middle don’t stop there.  Innovative concepts like “mansion concept” buildings that look like large estate homes (ahem – there are a number of large Harrisburg mansions throughout the city) can be included in the mix.

And I think the Cottage Court concept – where a bunch of small detached cottages around 800-1,000 s.f. that can be rented are arranged on a single lot – all facing a central walkway to really build on the “community” of that piece of ground is intriguing.  Perhaps I’ll have more of that in a future post.

Biggest Hurdles to Missing Middle

The concept of Missing Middle revolves around getting “Form Based Codes” adopted in municipalities – and that’s an uphill battle for many people to grasp (though it IS being adopted in some places around the country – detailed in Case Studies in the Missing Middle Housing book).

What is a Form Based Code – and – how does it differ from typical Zoning Code that is typically seen in today’s homebuilding environment?

Typical Zoning Codes tell you the types of properties (e.g. residential, commercial, industrial) that can be built – and – focuses on things like density (how many homes/buildings can be built per acre).  In addition, off-street parking minimums are established and enforced.

Form-Based Zoning Codes talk more about the size and scale of buildings (e.g. the “form” that the buildings should take).  Widths, depths and size/stories of buildings are the focus – with the intent to blend in with existing housing.

Density is typically higher in a form-based code – but – the scale of the buildings keeps new builds from becoming mammoths beside the homes that already exist.

The intent is to help keep the character of the neighborhood that locals know and love while offering more attainable housing (which is a little different than affordable housing).  Take a look at the Incredible Growing Home Building Glossary for the definitions of each.

Harrisburg’s Intent is There

Taking a quick look at the City of Harrisburg’s Zoning Code (dated 2014), I think the intent of preserving the neighborhoods and increasing the stock of attainable housing does exist!

 Keep in mind that I’m an early student of this concept – just learning – but things are looking promising for this city.

Just take a look at their Community Development Objectives.

So Where Are The Missing Middle Builders?

Given the facts that Harrisburg may be ripe for Missing Middle, there still seems to be little new development happening by Home Builders in the area.

I’ve seen a few projects in the last 10 years, but very few.

• Do you think the area is ripe for this type of housing?
• Do you think Home Builders are missing out on this opportunity?
• Do you think something else needs to happen to make this work?
• (And who wants to work with me to get a project planned?)
• Or do I need to study up a bit more to understand even deeper?

I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments section.