Legalize the Missing Middle
Making duplexes and quadplexes easy to build
"We cannot attract new businesses or keep our own college graduates if they cannot afford to live here. By getting the bureaucracy out of the way and legalizing 'missing middle' housing, we will build the smart, affordable density our city desperately needs."
The Housing Affordability Crisis
Lynchburg is facing a housing affordability crisis, and the primary culprit isn't a lack of land; it is outdated, restrictive city zoning laws. For decades, our zoning maps have essentially made it illegal to build anything other than sprawling, expensive single-family homes or massive, sprawling apartment complexes.
What has been zoned out of existence is the "Missing Middle": duplexes, quadplexes, townhomes, and smaller 4-to-8 unit buildings that used to be the backbone of historic American cities. Because City Hall has made it incredibly difficult and legally risky for developers to build these smaller, naturally affordable units, we have an artificial housing shortage. This artificial scarcity drives up rent and home prices, effectively pricing our young professionals, teachers, and working-class families right out of the city limits.
Zoned Out of Existence
Our current zoning laws have essentially made duplexes, quadplexes, and townhomes illegal, cutting out the naturally affordable housing types that working families depend on.
Dave's Finding the Middle Plan
Reforming B2-B5 Commercial Zones
Dave will champion immediate zoning reform to allow for the construction of 4-to-8 unit housing directly within existing B2-B5 commercial zones. By mixing light residential into commercial corridors, we create immediate density without disrupting the character of historic single-family neighborhoods.
The Math Behind Smarter Zoning
The Cost of Exclusionary Zoning
The National Bureau of Economic Research published a paper in 2002 that still rings true today! In much of America the price of housing is quite close to the marginal, physical costs of new construction. The evidence suggests that zoning and other land use controls, play the dominant role in making housing expensive in urban environments where housing is unaffordable.