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The Houses that Can't be Built in America - The Missing Middle - YouTube
Channel: Not Just Bikes
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there's a similar pattern you'll see in
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the skyline of cities all over the us
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and canada the city is sprawling in flat
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and then suddenly a bunch of giant
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towers here it is in minneapolis
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and in charlotte
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and in seattle
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but compare that to almost any european
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city and you'll get a much smoother
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progression of buildings with lots that
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are of an in-between size
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when i criticize american car-dependent
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suburbs there's a common knee-jerk
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reaction someone will inevitably claim i
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live in the suburbs because i don't want
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to be crammed into a concrete box in the
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sky
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as if there's no alternative between a
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concrete tower and car dependent
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suburbia with asphalt as far as the eye
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can see
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now you might just dismiss this person
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as being an ignorant idiot and to be
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fair they probably are but there's a
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small bit of reality in that statement
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because in most of the us and much of
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canada those are your only two options
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to live an apartment or a single family
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home there's almost nothing in between
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urban planners have dubbed this the
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missing middle problem and it affects
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almost every city in the us and canada
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with very very few exceptions
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as with most things wrong with urban
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planning in america this all started in
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the 1940s when cities started promoting
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car-centric suburbanization with an
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emphasis on every family owning their
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own detached home
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now if single-family homes were built
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because people wanted single-family
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homes and the market demanded it that
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might be okay but it's not that simple
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instead it became almost impossible to
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build anything other than single family
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homes because of strict euclidean zoning
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i've referred to this before in my
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livable neighborhoods video
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and zoning is not the only problem
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either
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there are other car-centric policies
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especially minimum parking requirements
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that reinforce this as well
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all of these requirements severely
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constrain what can be built
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in particular it makes it almost
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impossible to build the traditional
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walkable neighborhoods that are
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enjoyable efficient sustainable and
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financially solvent
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this problem is endemic across the u.s
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if you look at areas of a u.s city where
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residential buildings are permitted you
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find that almost all of it only allows
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for single-family homes it's illegal to
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build anything else
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the worst offender here is san jose
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where 94 of the land that allows
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building housing only permits building
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single-family homes and this is in the
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heart of silicon valley where more
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housing is desperately needed
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canadian cities are much better but
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still far too high remember what this
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means is that developers must build
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single-family homes in these areas even
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if there's demand for something else
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there's no other choice
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this ultimately leads to a scarcity in
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residential land for any other type of
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building and even then nearby residents
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can object to almost any development
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which means that every new development
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is going to be a fight
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this is a major reason why developers
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build condo towers so often in the us
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and canada because getting zoning
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approval isn't cheap or easy and
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fighting nimbies isn't cheap or easy
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either
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so a developer is only going to put the
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effort into jumping through all of these
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hoops if they're sure they can make a
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profit in the end
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that means making the absolute most of
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these scarce residential land and
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ultimately that means cramming in as
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many residents as possible
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which is why you end up with this insane
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situation of the lowest density
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single-family homes next to giant
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high-rise towers in the most expensive
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city in canada
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but of course it didn't used to be this
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way consider this street in toronto
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built in the 1920s
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here you can see detached homes of
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various different sizes like this cute
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blue house
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or this small bungalow
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there are also several terraced homes
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like these
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and this looks like a single house but
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it's actually several apartments in one
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building but it still fits in very
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neatly into the neighborhood
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then there's this very small apartment
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block too
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and these small terraced homes that have
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clearly seen better days
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and finally at the end of the street
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there's commercial buildings like this
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one within easy walking distance of
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residents and apartments were built over
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most of the shops as well
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today it is nearly impossible to find
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any place in the u.s or canada where all
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of these different types of buildings
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would be legal to build on the same
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street something that would be
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completely normal before the 1940s
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but even if you could get the zoning
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variances to build this small multi-unit
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building which you can't the neighbors
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would absolutely lose their minds
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we can't have people of marginally lower
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socioeconomic status in our neighborhood
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and what if their skin color was
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different could you imagine
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so instead we get a 40-story condo tower
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down the street
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the situation in europe is very
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different here in the netherlands for
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example you'll very often see mid-rise
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buildings that are five floors or less
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and many terraced homes as well
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it is possible to find single-family
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homes too of course but it's not the
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only type of housing available
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this street in dalventrache an utterly
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normal city near amsterdam
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has terraced homes mixed with
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semi-detached homes and small apartment
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buildings all in the same place
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this provides so much more choice in the
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housing market especially for families
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not everybody wants to maintain a big
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house with a big yard and live in a
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place where you have to drive to do just
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about anything
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and it also allows for the type of
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enjoyable livable walkable urban
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neighborhoods that i'm constantly
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praising on this channel as being some
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of the best places in the world to live
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you can even live in a concrete box in
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the sky if you like that kind of thing
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so maybe you don't like these kind of
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homes and that's okay they don't like
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you either
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but even if you don't like these kind of
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homes you have to justify why it is
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illegal to build these kind of homes in
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almost every neighborhood in the us and
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canada
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now of course eliminating single-family
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zoning doesn't eliminate single-family
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homes these houses can still be built if
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there's demand for it it just means they
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would no longer be the only type of
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homes that can be built
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thankfully some cities in north america
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are starting to make some progress with
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this issue
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in 2019 minneapolis abolished
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single-family zoning and now allows
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building duplexes and triplexes in any
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neighborhood in the city
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vancouver has recently made it possible
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to build duplexes in all residential
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neighborhoods though not triplex's
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and even better legislation means that
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portland can once again build housing
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that used to be considered normal such
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as four plexes and cottage courts which
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are several small homes around a common
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yard
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these cities are taking a good step
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forward but they're still very much in
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the minority and unfortunately other
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regulations such as setbacks lot
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coverage rules or minimum parking
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requirements can still make it difficult
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to build anything other than
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single-family homes
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also even with these zoning changes
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there are still far too many dense but
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livable housing options that are not
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permitted such as courtyard buildings
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townhouses and small apartment buildings
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ultimately if u.s and canadian cities
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want to succeed they're going to have to
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start undoing car-centric housing policy
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and ending single-family zoning to make
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the missing middle legal again is a good
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first step
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and then they can start to bring back
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the enjoyable walkable neighborhoods
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they used to build
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without having to live in a concrete box
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in the sky
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i'd like to thank my supporters on
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patreon who pay me to film random
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people's houses
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if you'd like to support the channel and
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get access to bonus videos visit
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patreon.com
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