Zoning for the Missing Middle in Cartoon Form, With Wizards

The city of Ottawa, Canada has produced another goofy animated video. This one explains its efforts to encourage more Missing Middle multi-unit urban housing.

1 minute read

July 24, 2019, 1:00 PM PDT

By tjmoerman


Like many North American cities, Ottawa has long faced rental affordability and vacancy issues. And, like in most cities, zoning is part of the problem, preventing mid-density housing from being built in the places it's needed the most. To help encourage more supply and improve housing affordability, Canada’s capital city is undertaking a zoning review aimed at encouraging more "missing middle" housing forms such as low-rise apartments in its inner-urban R4 Residential zones. The city has produced a short animated video to help explain the study. Because let's face it, zoning is boring, and who doesn't like cartoons?

Developed in-house by the same staffers behind the city’s viral Minimum Parking Review cartoon in 2015, it quickly explains in a fun and engaging way how more low-rise apartments can can help affordability and why old zoning rules might be getting in the way of helping people find a place to live.

Monday, July 22, 2019 in City of Ottawa via Youtube

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I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

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