Affordable placemaking

Chapter 18 of the New Urbanism Best Practices Guide

Housing must be affordable and functional for the people who will inhabit it, yet it should also be emotionally satisfying. This chapter explores how to be economical without compromising walkability and placemaking. The text is organized around strategies in three main areas: design, policy, and transportation.

Stephen Mouzon presents city-scale ideas (such as connecting affordable housing to transit); neighborhood-scale options (examples: local food production; five-story town center buildings that can provide basic services for the construction workers and later be converted to a hotel); block-scale ideas (cottage courts; mews courts in mid-block; cottages on alleys and rear lanes); and building-scale ideas (manufactured, modular, kit, and panelized construction; “Katrina Kernel Cottages”; passive solar design).

Here are tips on creating and managing mixed-income housing, avoiding the idea of pursuing the cheapest possible box (a technique that ends up concentrating poor people and their problems). Consider building small houses with large porches. Document the best older residential streets in town and use this to press municipal officials for narrow (more affordable, more livable) streets. Consider greater density. Put an accessory unit on top of a rear garage. A table presents sizes, costs, rental income, and other aspects of accessory units at 10 projects across the US.

Policies and programs include inclusionary zoning, location-efficient mortgages, community land trusts, reduced parking requirements, low-income housing tax credits, and partnering with a nonprofit builder. Other ideas: simplify the grid, use existing infrastructure, and install low-cost foundations. Jim Constantine offers 10 tips for traditional neighborhood developments on a budget.