Executive Summary
The formula for housing abundance is straightforward:
- Enable by-right zoning
- Allow greater density in lots of areas, particularly around walkable, amenity-rich commercial areas
- Follow the KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) principle
- Don’t put all eggs in one basket
- Complement high-rise Transit-oriented Development with Light-touch Density to also provide naturally affordable homes and wealth building homeownership opportunities.
Micro-managing this process won’t work. Planners need to get out of the way and let the market build more housing.
- Beware of the recommendations of the federal government, which likes complex, one-size-fits all solutions that don’t follow the KISS principle.
- Allowing moderately higher density in areas zoned for single-family detached has been proven to unleash a swarm of small-scale builders and developers.
