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.
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.
Read the full story: Ottawa's R4 Zoning Review: The Missing Middle
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