Sacramento’s Groundbreaking Zoning and Policy Reform

Collaboration between Opticos and the City of Sacramento is underway to enable Missing Middle Housing citywide as part of a broader effort to increase the supply of lower-cost, attainable housing. The City of Sacramento took a monumental step forward when the City Council adopted the 2040 General Plan on February 27, 2024.

MMH Scan™ Supports Adoption of Middle Housing Standards in Knoxville

The Knoxville City Council recently adopted Middle Housing Zoning standards informed by Opticos’ Missing Middle Housing Scan. The Council’s aim is to expand housing options while preserving neighborhood character. Developed in collaboration with community input and Opticos Design’s consultation, these standards aim to facilitate the construction of diverse house-scale housing types within Traditional Neighborhood Residential zones.

From the Archives: Evolving a New Urbanist Icon—Seaside, Florida’s Town Square and Beachfront

In the early 2000’s Seaside Town Founder Robert Davis called me out of the blue to ask if we would work with him, his wife and Seaside co-founder Daryl Davis, and their team to work on a plan that would allow the town square and beachfront of Seaside—which was designed with temporary one story wood structures—to evolve into something more permanent but doing so in a way that did not compromise the Seaside charm and character that they had so thoughtfully orchestrated/created.

Objective Design and Development Standards: More Housing, Great Places

Objective Design and Development Standards (ODDS) have been getting a lot of attention lately as laws are passed across the country seeking to streamline new housing developments. Requirements by states to include ODDS in local zoning codes mean big changes to the way many communities currently regulate and review development.

Objective Design and Development Standards: Empowering Planners to Enable Great Places

In our first post, we introduced Objective Design and Development Standards (ODDS), wrote about its origins, its impact on housing production, and shared some common opinions about ODDS. We called for Planners to use ODDS to engage in housing production, placemaking and community design to a greater extent than they often do now. Here are some ways we think Planners can do just that.