Eliminate barriers and actively encourage higher density housing by including in the city zoning ordinance and zoning map:
Best Practice of this action
Rating Guideline
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Have at least one single-family zoning district or selected area that requires or allows 7-unit/acre (or greater). |
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A mixed- or single-use zoning district allowing 15+ dwelling units/acre; set a minimum density for single family zones where urban services are available at 7 dwelling units/acre and minimum gross density for multi-family at 15 dwelling units/acre (a level that supports 1 bus/15 min.). |
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Allow 2,3,4-plexes by right in most/all residential districts; have a minimum residential gross density of 20 units/acre when adjacent to a permanent transit node or pedestrian-oriented commercial retail district, eliminate exclusive single family zoning districts. |
Resources
- See Higher-Density Development: Myth and Fact from the National Multi Housing Council (2005), Housing Density Fact Sheets from Design for Health that feature visual examples of different housing densities of neighborhoods in and near the Minneapolis/Saint Paul metro area, and the Lincoln Land Institute's visualizing density 21-page essay with images from across the country.
- The Family Housing Fund's housing case studies in Minnesota.
- Building Better Neighborhoods (Greater MN Housing Fund: 2001) provides plans for building attractive and affordable starter homes, planning compact and walkable neighborhoods and creating attractive public spaces. Rebuilding Better Neighborhoods: Strategies for Reimagining Affordable Housing in Greater Minnesota (GMHF: 2019) showcases 19 case studies of infill development, adaptive reuse, and historic preservation that convert underused sites to much-needed affordable homes.
- 21 model ordinances in Smart Codes: Model Land-Development Regulations (American Planning Association's PAS Report 556: 2003).
- Essential Smart Growth Fixes For Urban And Suburban Zoning Codes (U.S. EPA: 2009).
- See also resources under action 7.2
Sublist
a. Neighborhood single-family density at 7 units/acre or greater wherever urban services are available.
b. Multi-family housing at a gross density of at least 15 units/acre adjacent to a commercial zoning district or transit node.
Order Number
1
Action Type
Finite