The Public Square Journal, produced by Congress for the New Urbanism, includes an article about how adaptable the cottage courtyard design is. In Testing new ideas with cottage courts, Robert Steuteville discusses how this "missing middle" type can be placed in urban, suburban or rural settings, and as for-sale or as rental units. Cottage courts are wonderful developments with open space, grouped parking and can test new design ideas, methods and markets. The units sit on a small footprint and are inviting to people and families.

Click to read the article.

The Public Square Journal, produced by Congress for the New Urbanism, includes an article about a townhouse design that has numerous advantages. In "Micro-townhouses designed for flexibility", Robert Steuteville discusses how this design enables homeownership, is easier for builders to finance, provides green and common spaces, lends to available street parking, and is customizable based on the needs of the homeowner. He describes the units as "high-quality urbanism".

Click to read the article.

The Kinder Institute Urban Edge blog took a thorough look at Accessory Dwelling Units in Houston and our recent ADU design competition.

For more information on ADUs in Houston, visit https://www.letstalkhouston.org/adu.

The National Association of Home Builders produced a report prepared by Opticos Design, Inc. The objective of Diversifying Housing Options with Smaller Lots and Smaller Homes is to explore "issues involved in building a greater mix of housing types that bring discreet density to neighborhoods using a palette that ranges from smaller homes, to accessory dwelling units, to Missing Middle Housing types."

The report also examines regulatory and design options as well as the barriers that prevent these housing types. The analysis provides examples of "codes and built results that were developed at the market rate without the expectation of subsidies so that we could understand how successful a code can be in influencing diversity and affordability of housing options."

Harris County commissioned a county wide survey and study to examine the types and prices of homes needed in our communities. The survey, conducted by Kinder Institute for Urban Research, analyzed pertinent data and gauged the public’s perception of housing opportunities. The survey results and listening sessions were formulated into My Home is Here: Harris County’s Housing Needs Assessment And 10-Year Strategy. Released in October 2021, the document serves to guide local decision makers in creating housing policies and strategies that reflect the wants and needs of Harris County.

This is a case study of a cottage community in Clarkston, Georgia, a suburb northeast of Atlanta. This case study is produced by MicroLife Institute that promotes micro-living and its benefits. They support homes of “all shapes and sizes” that bring communities together, among other goals. They speak to filling the missing middle housing gap with projects like the Cottages on Vaughan.

This housing project provides a great example of common green space design and has a unique approach to separate parking. It is also climate-conscious, utilizes solar panels, room sized porches, and edible landscaping features.

Read The Cottages on Vaughan.

The ABCs of ADUs is a guide that explains how ADUs expand housing options for people of all ages. It provides results and statistics from the 2018 AARP Home and Community Preferences Survey, has examples of different ADUs, covers many benefits of ADUs and more. The guide, produced by AARP.org, explains how ADUs expand housing options for people of all ages.

Read the ABCs of ADUs.

ATTAINABLE HOUSING

The Urban Land Institute's report entitled Attainable Housing: Challenges, Perceptions, and Solutions(External link), highlights best practices and ideas on developing attainable housing. Attainable housing is defined as for-sale housing serving moderate-income working families. Units are affordable to households with incomes between 80 and 120 percent of the area median income (AMI) without subsidy.

Houston's Housing and Community Development Department identified the 2020 AMI(External link) for a family of four as $63,050 and $94,550, respectively.

Read the study to learn more about what has influenced the change in demand developers and builders are seeing "as a result of the rise of the small household, which has implications for denser, smaller homes at attainable price points."

For more information, visit ULI's Attainable Housing(External link) website.

FAMILY RENTER HOUSING

Declining homeowner rates, rising housing costs, the expected increase in millennials starting families and an increase in multigenerational households are spurring a need for "new and interesting forms of rental housing that target a broader range of households, including many families." The new family-oriented rental housing is discussed in ULI's report, Family Renter Housing: A Response to the Changing Growth Dynamics of the Next Decade(External link). What is family-oriented rental housing? It is defined as housing of any density with two or three bedrooms.

For more information, visit ULI's Family Rental Housing(External link) website.