Housing-Ready Cities
Three Toolkits for Building a Housing-Ready City
The Housing-Ready City
Six Policies That Will Make Your Town Housing Ready
Who Will Build the Housing-Ready City?
How Cities Can Grow an Ecosystem of Incremental Developers
Financing the Housing-Ready City
Coming 2026
The Housing-Ready City
These Six Policies Will Make Your Town Housing Ready
These are policies that can be implemented on a local level, meaning your place doesn’t have to wait for help from above to fight back against the housing crisis.
Policy 01
Allow single-family home conversion to duplex or triplex, by right.
Policy 02
Permit backyard cottages in all residential zones.
Policy 03
Legalize starter homes in all residential zones.
Policy 04
Eliminate minimum lot size requirements in existing neighborhoods.
Policy 05
Repeal parking mandates for housing.
Policy 06
Streamline the approval process.
Take the quiz to see if your place is housing ready:
Who Will Build the Housing-Ready City?
Build a Culture That Empowers Local Builders
If cities want a local housing market that is responsive to local needs, they need to create an ecosystem where these incremental builders and developers can thrive.
Support Structure 01
Clarity
Clarity isn’t about changing the rules. It’s about making them visible, understandable, and accessible, especially to people who haven’t done this before. When someone walks into city hall with an idea, they shouldn’t have to guess where to begin.
Support Structure 02
Proportionality
Recognize that different projects carry different risks, then adjusting the city’s process accordingly. When a city saves its heaviest tools for its biggest projects, it creates space for everyone else to build.
Support Structure 03
Connection
Many small developers aren’t professionals. They’re learning as they go. What they need is acommunity — mentors, guides, and peers — who can help them figure things out and keep goingwhen things get hard.
Support Structure 04
Culture
Clarity isn’t about changing the rules. It’s about making them visible, understandable, and accessible, especially to people who haven’t done this before. When someone walks into city hall with an idea, they shouldn’t have to guess where to begin.
Support Structure 05
Capital
Clarity isn’t about changing the rules. It’s about making them visible, understandable, and accessible, especially to people who haven’t done this before. When someone walks into city hall with an idea, they shouldn’t have to guess where to begin.
Dive Deeper
Learn More About How Cities Can Grow an Ecosystem of Incremental Developers
Learn From Other Housing-Ready Cities
We're building a map of Housing-Ready Cities across the continent. To claim your spot on this map, answer the questions in the quiz above.
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