Why aren't more apartments built for families with kids?
An important segment of the market isn't being served.
Throughout most of my time in urbanist advocacy in Austin, apartment buildings were the thing I cared about most. The reforms like HOME aimed at enabling more duplexes and triplexes were fine, but I knew that big apartment buildings were the quickest way to address Austin’s massive housing demand.
But what I didn't appreciate until relatively recently was that most large multifamily buildings were not addressing an important segment of the total demand: middle class families w/kids. In other words, the families that can't afford a detached house but also aren't interested in raising kids in a two-bedroom apartment building marketed towards young professionals or empty nesters. (Three-bedroom apartments are very rare in new buildings)
My guest this week, Alicia Pederson, writes the Courtyard Urbanist newsletter from Chicago, and has some strong opinions about how much of America fucked up on multifamily housing. The culprits include building codes, transportation codes, fire departments, and large developers with a business model focused on volume. The good news is there are lessons to be learned from around the world about how to build multifamily housing that appeals to middle class families. This is why reforms like HOME and the legalization of single-stair apartment buildings is an important part of reversing AISD's enrollment plummet!
Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts or watch/listen below on YouTube:
