What Does “Missing Middle” Housing Mean Anyway?
Every now and then I hear a term I think I know the meaning of, only to find out some time later I didn’t really know at all.
Take, for example, the term “missing middle” when it comes to housing. Often mentioned in conjunction with the city of Minneapolis’ on-again off-again 2040 plan, you may If you own a duplex, triplex, or fourplex in Minneapolis or St Paul, then you have a “missing middle” building.
The term “missing middle” was coined sometime in the 1930’s because they are usually built in-between single family homes and large apartment buildings.
According to the city of Minneapolis’ 2040 plan, these properties were intended to provide more affordable housing for working-class families, immigrants and people of color. Much of the Twin Cities “missing middle” multifamily inventory was built between 1905 and 1929; decades in which the tractor came to family farms and jobs were plentiful in the cities.
As a result, multi-family housing accounted for almost half of all homes built the first 30 years of the 20th century!
Starting in the 1930’s, policies began to be adopted that prohibited the construction of these kinds of homes in sought-after neighborhoods. Restricting construction of duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes, was a back door way to implement racial segregation. The Great Depression further slowed new construction, causing it to drop 93 percent between 1928 and 1933.
Of course, this resulted in 2 million construction workers losing their jobs.
During the Great Depression, only 1 in 10 Americans owned their own home. A disastrous economy mean many Americans couldn’t meet the terms of their loans. And those who could in fact afford to buy were required to put 50% down on a mortgage amortized over just 3-5 years with a balloon payment in the end.
In an effort to stimulate home buying, the federal government created FHA with the intention of providing a low down payment option for would-be home buyers, as well as mortgage insurance as a way to encourage banks to lend. A post World War II housing shortage resulted in a construction boom, and FHA insured mortgages became an attractive and affordable option for single-family home buyers.
Missing middle properties didn’t become a desirable option again until the 1960’s. Highways and urban renewal projects not only resulted in rental properties being torn down, but also as commuting became easier, an exodus of the city’s population to the suburbs. Developers suddenly saw missing middle housing as a moderately priced housing option, an alternative to high rises, and with a connection to public transportation, easy access to goods and services.
That’s why we see duplexes at the outer edges of the cities, and in first ring suburbs like Richfield and Fridley.
Minneapolis’ 2040 plan helped ease zoning restrictions, therefore allowing missing middle housing to be built in neighborhoods where they’d been prohibited for decades. While there are still many obstacles to getting them built, perhaps with time, we’ll see yet another wave of the duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes we all love.