End of Year 2025 Recap

This year, Opticos Design partnered with cities, towns, and neighborhoods across the country to address housing challenges and support walkable, resilient neighborhoods. From advancing Form-Based Codes to implementing Missing Middle Housing strategies and neighborhood design, we worked to deliver solutions that balance growth with character, expand housing choices, and strengthen local identity.   These efforts reflect our ongoing commitment to collaboration, innovation, and equity—helping neighborhoods prepare for the future while honoring the unique qualities that make each place thrive. As we look back on 2025, we’re proud of the progress made and excited to continue building vibrant, walkable neighborhoods in the year ahead.

Sacramento Adopts One of the Most Progressive Missing Middle Strategies in the U.S.

Since our last update on the City of Sacramento, the Sacramento City Council unanimously adopted the Missing Middle Housing Interim Ordinance, becoming the first in California to allow multi-unit housing in every neighborhood. The Missing Middle Housing (MMH) Interim Ordinance is the outcome of a multi-year, comprehensive Missing Middle Housing Study led by Opticos in partnership with Cascadia Partners, Unseen Heroes, and Bill Lennertz. The Ordinance went into effect on October 17, 2024, and includes innovative tools like the sliding scale FAR to incentivize smaller, incremental housing that is more attainable for its community.  

HCPO 2024 Recap: Bridging the Housing Gap in Hawai’i with Innovative Solutions

Mitali Ganguly and Caroline Cochran spoke with Maui County Planning Director Kate Blystone and Kauaʻi County Planning Manager Jodie Higuchi Sayegusa at HCPO 2024 about innovative infrastructure solutions and private-public partnerships that may deliver attainable Missing Middle Housing in Hawai’i.

Lessons from Agueda, Portugal: Does Your Downtown/Town Have a Strong, Memorable Brand Like Agueda?

In 2011 the sleepy small town of Agueda, Portugal, which was off the beaten path of most tourists and struggling economically, had a simple, novel idea that would transform it: Cover one of their main shopping streets with colorful umbrellas. The motto was to “color life, bring color to the gray spaces of the city and make the ones who pass by smile.” 

Over a Decade of Work in Hawai’i

For almost 20 years, Opticos has demonstrated our commitment to walkable island urbanism.