19.3. Multi-Family Infill

Aus Pattern Language Wiki

Following the goals of Urban Regeneration and Sprawl Retrofit, provide places for additional residences at low impact.


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Problem-statement: One of the most effective ways of providing affordable housing units is to add units within existing lots, either by dividing existing houses, adding to them, or building free-standing accessory dwelling units. But there are many potential issues that must be addressed.


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Discussion: The process of infilling existing neighborhoods and creating multiple units on individual lots is a time-honored strategy for the creation of affordable residences. Examples include widows who let out rooms to lodgers; single homes converted to multiple apartments; homes enlarged to create separate units; additional residences created over garages or as free-standing units at the rear; and multiple-unit buildings designed to be compatible with an existing residential neighborhood.


However, there are challenges and dangers in taking this strategy of infill.¹ First, the ability to add units to a property might incentivize the demolition of a relatively affordable home that already exists, and replace it with even more expensive homes, with only a negligible gain of units. That would be moving away from affordability.


Second, there will of course be impacts from the additional residents, and these must be managed carefully. There may be more cars and traffic; there may be more noise; and there may be ugly or out-scale structures added to an existing residential fabric that serves to degrade it, from the perspective of the residents who live there.


These residents have the right to participate in the shaping of their public realm, and in assuring that impacts are mitigated. It is therefore imperative that they be brought in to a respectful collaborative process, to help to evaluate mitigation measures. Among them are transportation demand management programs to manage parking and traffic; ordinances to control noise and other problems; and careful planning and design review to assure that projects are a good fit with the neighborhood, and are seen as a “win-win” addition by residents. This is not an automatic “Yes In My Back Yard” approach — YIMBY — but rather, as we described previously, QUIMBY — “Quality In My Back Yard.”


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Therefore:

Provide for an orderly process of “gentle densification” with multi-family infill projects, involving the neighborhood, mitigating impacts, and assuring quality. On no account force neighbors to accept degradations to their quality of life and their shared public realm, without their respectful involvement.


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Use the Neighborhood Planning Center to encourage streamlined participation by the adjacent stakeholders. Use streamlining and pre-entitlement tools to lower costs and increase certainty and confidence by all stakeholders. …




¹ See Infranca, J. (2014). Housing changing households: Regulatory challenges for micro-units and accessory dwelling units. Stanford Law & Policy Review, 25, 53.



Mehaffy, M. et al. (2020). MULTI-FAMILY INFILL (pattern). In A New Pattern Language for Growing Regions. The Dalles: Sustasis Press. Available at https://pattern-language.wiki/.../Multi-Family_Infill



SECTION I:

PATTERNS OF SCALE


1. REGIONAL PATTERNS

Define the large-scale spatial organization…

1.1. POLYCENTRIC REGION

1.2. BLUE-GREEN NETWORK

1.3. MOBILITY CORRIDOR

1.4. 400M THROUGH STREET NETWORK

2. URBAN PATTERNS

Establish essential urban characteristics…

2.1. WALKABLE MULTI-MOBILITY

2.2. LEVEL CITY

2.3. PUBLIC SPACE SYSTEM

2.4. BIOPHILIC URBANISM

3. STREET PATTERNS

Identify and allocate street types…

3.1. URBAN GREENWAY

3.2. MULTI-WAY BOULEVARD

3.3. AVENUE

3.4. SHARED SPACE LANE

4. NEIGHBORHOOD PATTERNS

Define neighborhood-scale elements…

4.1. STREET AS CENTER

4.2. PEDESTRIAN SANCTUARY

4.3. NEIGHBORHOOD SQUARE

4.4. NEIGHBORHOOD PARK

5. SPECIAL USE PATTERNS

Integrate unique urban elements with care…

5.1. SCHOOL CAMPUS

5.2. MARKET CENTER

5.3. INDUSTRIAL AREA

5.4. HOSPITAL

6. PUBLIC SPACE PATTERNS

Establish the character of the crucial public realm…

6.1. PLACE NETWORK

6.2. WALKABLE STREETSCAPE

6.3. MOVABLE SEATING

6.4. CAPILLARY PATHWAY

7. BLOCK AND PLOT PATTERNS

Lay out the detailed structure of property lines…

7.1. SMALL BLOCKS

7.2. PERIMETER BLOCK

7.3. SMALL PLOTS

7.4. MID-BLOCK ALLEY

8. STREETSCAPE PATTERNS

Configure the street as a welcoming place…

8.1. STREET AS ROOM

8.2. TERMINATED VISTA

8.3. STREET TREES

8.4. STREET FURNISHINGS

9. BUILDING PATTERNS

Lay out appropriate urban buildings…

9.1. PERIMETER BUILDING

9.2. ARCADE BUILDING

9.3. COURTYARD BUILDING

9.4. ROW BUILDING

10. BUILDING EDGE PATTERNS

Create interior and exterior connectivity…

10.1. INDOOR-OUTDOOR AMBIGUITY

10.2. CIRCULATION NETWORK

10.3. LAYERED ZONES

10.4. PASSAGEWAY VIEW



SECTION II:

PATTERNS OF MULTIPLE SCALE


11. GEOMETRIC PATTERNS

Build in coherent geometries at all scales…

11.1. LOCAL SYMMETRY

11.2. SMALL GROUPS OF ELEMENTS

11.3. FRACTAL PATTERN

11.4. FRAMING

12. AFFORDANCE PATTERNS

Build in user capacity to shape the environment…

12.1. HANDLES

12.2. CO-PRODUCTION

12.3. FRIENDLY SURFACES

12.4. MALLEABILITY

13. RETROFIT PATTERNS

Revitalize and improve existing urban assets …

13.1. SLUM UPGRADE

13.2. SPRAWL RETROFIT

13.3. URBAN REGENERATION

13.4. URBAN CONSOLIDATION

14. INFORMAL GROWTH PATTERNS

Accommodate “bottom-up” urban growth…

14.1. LAND TENURE

14.2. UTILITIES FIRST

14.3. DATA WITH THE PEOPLE

14.4. INCREMENTAL SELF-BUILD

15. CONSTRUCTION PATTERNS

Use the building process to enrich the result…

15.1. DESIGN-BUILD ADAPTATION

15.2. HUMAN-SCALE DETAIL

15.3. CONSTRUCTION ORNAMENT

15.4. COMPLEX MATERIALS



SECTION III:

PATTERNS OF PROCESS


16. IMPLEMENTATION TOOL PATTERNS

Use tools to achieve successful results…

16.1. FORM-BASED CODE

16.2. ENTITLEMENT STREAMLINING

16.3. NEIGHBORHOOD PLANNING CENTER

16.4. COMMUNITY MOCKUP

17. PROJECT ECONOMICS PATTERNS

Create flows of money that support urban quality…

17.1. TAX-INCREMENT FINANCING

17.2. LAND VALUE CAPTURE

17.3. EXTERNALITY VALUATION

17.4. ECONOMIES OF PLACE AND DIFFERENTIATION

18. PLACE GOVERNANCE PATTERNS

Processes for making and managing places…

18.1. SUBSIDIARITY

18.2. POLYCENTRIC GOVERNANCE

18.3. PUBLIC-PRIVATE PLACE MANAGEMENT

18.4. INFORMAL STEWARDSHIP

19. AFFORDABILITY PATTERNS

Build in affordability for all incomes…

19.1. INTEGRATED AFFORDABILITY

19.2. COMMUNITY LAND TRUST

19.3. MULTI-FAMILY INFILL

19.4. SPECULATION TAX

20. NEW TECHNOLOGY PATTERNS

Integrate new systems without damaging old ones…

20.1. SMART AV SYSTEM

20.2. RESPONSIVE TRANSPORTATION NETWORK COMPANY

20.3. AUGMENTED REALITY DESIGN

20.4. CITIZEN DATA