Memphis 3.0 Community Anchors: Reinvesting in Local Neighborhoods to Positively Impact Memphians

The Daniel Burnham Award-winning Memphis 3.0 Comprehensive Plan charted a bold new vision for how the City of Memphis, Tennessee would “grow up, not out” as it embarks on its third century. Opticos Design was thrilled to assist the City of Memphis as they lead the innovative 3.0 Comprehensive Plan on behalf of a multidisciplinary team of national and local consultants. It was a pleasure to be invited back to help the city implement the plan through a series of small area planning projects.

Houselessness: Not “Someone Else’s” Problem

Shelter is an integral part of the human condition and an aspect of our lives that can be easily taken for granted. Many consider housing and shelter to be a fundamental human right. But this thinking feels jarringly disconnected with the unpleasant reality that on any given night, approximately half a million Americans are left unsheltered. Of those people, 19% are chronically homeless and 6% are veterans. Disturbingly, the fastest growing segment is families with children.

How to Use Building Types in Zoning

Building types can be useful in form-based codes where the goal is to enable a fine–grained mix of buildings of varied density and type in walkable neighborhoods. The approach of using building types is also effective in situations where permit streamlining is required and discretionary review is not allowed or significantly limited. For example, in California, Senate Bill 35 requires that only a community’s ‘Objective Design and Development Standards’ apply to multi-family or mixed-use projects. This means that more rather than less clarity in the standards and the community’s expectations is needed. Building types when prepared well offer that needed clarity.

An Agile, Cost-Competitive, Alternative Approach to Class A Multifamily Living Using Missing Middle Housing, Part 2

This is the second part of a two part series, based on recent conversations with our current client, Gerald S. Reimer from Urban Waters based in Omaha, NE, to discuss the Missing Middle neighborhood we planned for him. The first post introduced the project and discussed the benefits of this Missing Middle approach to a multifamily including tiered financing, tiered occupancy, and reduced absorption risk. This post will cover yield to cost efficiencies, flexible programming, and what lies ahead for Missing Middle Housing, especially in our post-pandemic world.