Site Design for Multifamily Housing: Creating Livable, Connected Neighborhoods

The United States is over eighty percent urbanized, yet over half of the population still lives in suburban settings, characterized by low-density, automobile-dependent development with separated land uses. These disconnected and isolated models of development have been linked to increased greenhouse-gas emissions and reduced quality of life, health, and social connections. In Site Design for Multifamily Housing: Creating Livable, Connected Neighborhoods, the authors explain that creating more livable and vital communities is within reach and the design and development of multifamily housing is a key component to reaching this goal.

Multifamily housing is an important component of increasing density, but large lot multifamily developments often lack connectivity and hence limit livability and walkability. Multifamily housing in suburban areas presents greater challenges than in urban areas due in part to larger lot sizes and street patterns that are often a mix of cul-de-sac, curved, looped, and dead-end streets. Increasing the livability of these developments is an important first step in affecting the livability of the country as a whole.

This handbook introduces planners, developers, and designers to ten key elements of multifamily site design, comparing typical and recommended conditions. Case studies of successful large lot multifamily developments as well as retrofit proposals for existing developments with low internal and external connectivity will demonstrate how the tools in the book can be applied.  Examples are drawn from Oregon, California, North Carolina, and Arizona. The ideas and tools in this book, including the planning checklist, code guide, and code summaries, will help users to create more livable, vibrant, and healthy communities. 

Nico Larco, AIA is Associate Professor in the Department of Architecture and Affiliated Faculty in Planning, Public Policy, and Management at the University of Oregon. He is also Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Sustainable Cities Initiative. Larco holds a Bachelor in Architecture and Bachelor of Arts in Cognitive Psychology from Cornell University and a Master of Architecture and a Master of City and Regional Planning from the University of California, Berkeley. His research work has been focused on livability and multifamily housing and he has published on this topic in the Journal of International Planning Studies, Journal of Urbanism, and Journal of Urban Design. Larco is a 2012/2013 Fulbright Scholar and was OTREC’s National University Transportation Center’s Researcher of the Year.
Kristin Kelsey recently graduated from the University of Oregon’s Department of Architecture with a Dual Masters in Architecture and Interior Architecture. She is currently practicing in Seattle, Washington.
Amanda West is a graduate of the University of Oregon’s Department of Planning, Public Policy, and Management and has been a Project Manager at the Community Planning Workshop at the University of Oregon.