Filling in the 'Missing Middle': No New Wheels, Please

A new crop of developers are delivering fine-grained urbanism. Ben Brown checks into their boot camp and provides an update on the movement.

1 minute read

February 2, 2016, 10:00 AM PST

By Hazel Borys


"For lots of reasons, including the ones PlaceMakers’ Scott Doyon explains here, Seaside, on the Northwest Florida Gulf Coast, makes a great place to talk about the appeal of small-scale dwellings in small-lot neighborhoods. Certainly, hanging out in a place where the real estate market has bid up the price for small wooden houses without lawns or garages to six and seven figures makes it harder to argue that nobody will pay for the privilege."

"Location, then, partially explains why some 30 prospective developers — and Bandit, the dog — arrived over the weekend to drill down on how-to topics related to just such places."

Brown goes on to cover the developers' boot camp, including videos with key points from the coaches: designers John Anderson and David Kim; Dallas developer Monte Anderson; and Mississippi architect/planner/developer Bruce Tolar. They are helping developers understand how to build somewhere in between the "mega-buck downtown development and mega-acre suburbs."

John Anderson's Venn Diagram of What We're Talking About

John Anderson's Venn Diagram of What We're Talking About

Tuesday, February 2, 2016 in PlaceShakers

portrait of professional woman

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. Mary G., Urban Planner

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.

Mary G., Urban Planner

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