Strong Towns – The Winds Are Changing on Incremental Housing

The well-understood issues of ADUs, multifamily zoning, and mixed-use development are all very important low-hanging fruit. Along with eliminating parking mandates.

I hadn't heard the term "incremental housing" before, but it immediately brought to mind what I have long considered a key missing piece which is modular construction.

It looks like the term is often used for the concept of constructing half a house, and then allowing people to add to the house as their means permit. Although, this may be another definition.

This is sort of like modular housing, because it would allow people to become homeowners more quickly, and then only spend more on upgrades as their needs require.

A full modular housing vision would allow adding entire new units to a structure as if they were LEGOs. But this is basically illegal everywhere. Even that other kind of incremental housing is basically out of the question in most places.

Land speculation is the primary affordability issue, but this more radical kind of YIMBY vision that I describe would have legs.