Middle Housing Findings

About

Through the Washington State Department of Commerce’s Middle Housing Grant and in collaboration with the cities of Edgewood, Fife, Gig Harbor, Milton, and University Place, SSHA3P contracted BERK Consulting to perform the following deliverables for the participating cities:

  • Conduct community outreach and summarize findings in a community engagement report
  • Create middle housing educational materials
  • Complete a racial equity analysis for each city
  • Develop anti-displacement policy recommendations
  • Identify areas suitable for middle housing in each city
  • Develop a menu of strategies, policies, and programs to increase middle housing production

The materials, findings, and recommendations may be useful for cities and counties seeking to communicate with the public about middle housing, increase middle housing development opportunities and the probability that development of this typology will occur, promote racial equity in housing policy, and take steps to prevent and mitigate displacement.

Deliverables

Public Engagement and Communication Plan

The Public Engagement and Communication Plan describes the goals, objectives, activities, and timeline for community engagement conducted in support of the SSHA3P Middle Housing Grant.

Community Engagement Report

The Community Engagement Report summarizes engagement activities and high-level themes of community input. Additional findings are incorporated into the racial equity analysis.

Racial Equity Analysis Report

The Racial Equity Analysis evaluates multiple geographic, demographic, racial and ethnic, housing, income, and displacement metrics to identify the following:

  1. racially disparate impacts in housing due to past and current discriminatory policies, and
  2. areas that may be at a higher risk of displacement from market forces.

Policy Recommendations on Middle Housing and Anti-Displacement

This report presents the findings of the middle housing suitability analysis and presents policy and strategy recommendations to address each city’s challenges concerning middle housing development and racially disparate impacts, displacement, and exclusion in housing. The recommendations aim to:

  • Begin to undo the impacts of local policies and regulations that may contribute to racially disparate impacts, displacement, and exclusion in housing;
  • Minimize displacement of low-income residents resulting from redevelopment; and
  • Increase the supply of middle housing types

Find a summary of the policy recommendations here.

Summary of Policy Recommendations

Click here for a summary of policy recommendations on middle housing and anti-displacement.

Communication Materials

The project included the development of materials and graphics to support local conversations about the inclusion of middle housing in existing neighborhoods. The communications goals were to:

  • Show examples of middle housing.
  • Explain who middle housing serves in Pierce County communities.
  • Develop abstract graphics to prevent reactions to architecture or building design.
  • Illustrate the role and benefits of middle housing to participating communities.

BERK Consulting developed a suite of communications materials including illustrations of types of middle housing and their fit within existing Pierce County neighborhoods. The graphics are simple, abstract illustrations. The materials include three fact sheets and an editable PowerPoint presentation focused on the following themes:

  • “What is middle housing?”
  • “Middle housing helps meet our community’s needs.”
  • “What does allowing middle housing mean for my neighborhood?”

Find the communication materials here: