Take the “Missing Middle” tour of downtown Santa Cruz
Downtown Santa Cruz has lots of examples of “missing middle” housing. These buildings in our community represent a range of housing options beyond the single detached house & mid-rise apartment. Learn more about missing middle housing from this website.
Many of these examples would be challenging to build today because of parking requirements or zoning restrictions. YIMBYs support more housing options so that individuals & families can find & afford homes that fit their needs. Add your voice in support of more missing middle housing in Santa Cruz by joining Santa Cruz YIMBY and telling your Assemblymember to support #SB9 and #SB10 - coming up for a full vote in the Assembly. (UPDATE: It worked - they passed!)
For our July meeting, we took a tour. And in August, we did it again!
Get a glimpse of the tour:
Admiring the cottage court style homes at Lincoln Court (Lincoln St) in downtown. These homes are an example of “missing middle” housing and would be illegal to build in most of Santa Cruz.
Another stop on our #missingmiddle walking tour are the Abbott Rowhouses (Lincoln St.) from 1894 located on a single parcel. No parking requirement. These would also be illegal to build in most of Santa Cruz today.
‘Plexes next to each other on Lincoln St (above and below). Wouldn’t it be great if there were more of these beautiful buildings that are multifamily housing buildings around Santa Cruz?
These two missing middle complexes are a triplex and fourplex respectively. Due to minimum parking rules, these might be illegal today.
This Elm Street home has three units! Almost 75% of the City of Santa Cruz is zoned exclusively for single detached houses. Wouldn’t it be nice if multiplexes were legal everywhere?
Downtown Villas on Washington Street has five (5) units and was built in 1888. Part of Mercy Housing, it was renovated and deed restricted in 1995 so all units are, and will be, affordable into the future.
Here are other examples of missing middle housing Downtown outside the Historic District:
Cypress Court apartments (Walnut Ave), a type of courtyard apartment.
This triplex on Rincon was built in the 40s.
This fourplex was built in 1948 and assessed for tax purposes for $204,666 and currently pay $2,926 annually in property taxes. Not the only example of how Prop 13 inequity shows up in the city!
These 3-bedroom, 2 bath townhomes on Union St. were built on individual parcels in 1981. They would be also be illegal in most neighborhoods today.
These 2-bedroom townhomes on Chestnut St. were built in 1990, are three stories tall, and we don’t see many homes like this built today.
Multifamily housing improves affordability and when built in walkable neighborhoods like downtown, results in a smaller carbon footprint.
Where else do you notice missing middle housing that fit nicely into our neighborhoods?