Sustainable City Services: Cycle of Housing Stockand Age of Residents by Scott and Jenny Ranville
Conclusion:
be rented to non-family members. Again, not all zoning allows ADUs. However, including ADUs in the housing mix can increase options for families as well as provide additional rental options.
One of the goals is to support people living and aging in their city. Thus, aging in neighborhood is balanced by optimizing community resources in that larger houses are primarily occupied by larger households. When downsizing, hopefully the person or couple is literally only moving a few feet to a familiar house, thereby minimizing the stress associated with moving. A new young family now has the opportunity to move into the city and live in the larger house.
3. ADUs can be taken to the next level by allowing the ADU to be sold independent of the main house. This can provide additional flexibility for the homeowner. To encourage more accessible housing, zoning could allow the minimum lot size to be ½ the current size provided that a “universal design” house built on each ½ lot. This would allow a homeowner in an existing single-family neighborhood to scrap the house, replace with 2 universal design houses, and potentially live in one of the houses while selling the other house to pay off the construction loan.
1:http://www.boarddocs.com/co/lpsco/Board.nsf/ files/8YXKEM518456/$file/LPS%20Demographic%20Study%20Presentation.pdf
HLP - Consulting/Think Tank/Architecture firm specializing in Creating Enlivened, Strong, Sustainable Communities for All Ages.
About the Writers New/Infill Projects:
Scott and Jenny Ranville run a consulting/think tank/ architecture/software development company, Human Life Project®. Our mission is to promote sustainable patterns, helping cities design for all ages. Our interpretation of the triple bottom line for urban planning encompasses: environmental sustainability, economic sustainability, and human sustainability. Human sustainability is the most important component for HLP. Jenny has a Masters in Architecture from the University of Michigan. She is an architect, LEED AP, and planning commissioner. Jenny presents at conferences to help encourage cities to become more sustainable and family friendly. Scott has a Masters from the University in Michigan in Electrical Engineering. Today, Scott combines the analytical thinking, research, and software skills to find innovative, data driven, cross-disciplinary solutions to help make cities better places to live. Web Page: www.humanlifeproject.com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/HumanLife-Project/373809785911
For new or lager infill projects, cities could require variety in the housing sizes to help achieve a more constant average household size over time. These new projects present opportunities to make a significant impact on the future direction of the city. 1. For a mixed generational neighborhood, every 3rd or 4th unit should be a different size. For example, if the development is primarily a family neighborhood with 3+ bedroom houses, the "other" houses would be smaller such as patio homes for older adults. The housing mix should attract singles, couples, families with children, and empty nesters. 2. For multi-family units, require a mix of 1, 2, and 3+ bedrooms to accommodate all family sizes. All too often, multi-family is not family-friendly. This needs to change to allow for more affordable family size housing options. Accessibility is big for older adults, so ensuring an adequate mix of accessible units is also very important.
16