Who Will Build the Housing-Ready City? How Cities Can Grow an Ecosystem of Incremental Developers

“Cities across North America are working hard to reform their zoning codes, streamline permitting, and remove the barriers that make small-scale housing development difficult. That’s essential work that many places are finally getting done.

But legal reform is only the beginning. Even when the rules are fixed, most of the people who might act on those changes still don’t. They don’t build a backyard cottage. They don’t convert a single-family home into a duplex. They don’t rehab the fourplex next door. Not because they don’t want to, but because they need support — or even just an invitation.

These people aren’t real estate insiders. They’re not national builders or institutional investors.

They’re your neighbors. They’re homeowners, tradespeople, small landlords, and community-minded entrepreneurs. They care about their block. They have skills. Some have experience. But what they don’t have — yet — is clarity, support, and confidence.

Strong Towns published “The Housing-Ready City” to help cities make incremental development legal.

This followup, “Who Will Build the Housing-Ready City” will help you make it real.

This guide, “Who Will Build the Housing-Ready City?,” is about growing an ecosystem of people — developers in the broadest, most human sense of the word. Our goal isn’t to attract big players. It’s to empower the local talent that’s already present in every city. Because if we want more small-scale development, we need more people willing and able to take that first step.

They’re already here. We just haven’t invited them in.

If we want a local housing market that is responsive to local needs, we need to create an ecosystem where these incremental builders and developers can thrive.”