Lincoln Institute Unveils Updated Visualizing Density Database
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The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy launched an updated iteration of Visualizing Density, a database containing hundreds of aerial photographs of neighborhoods each measured by housing density in units per acre. Intended for planners, designers, public officials, policymakers, practitioners, journalists, and citizens, the tool helps communities manage misperceptions about density as they consider residential development. By illustrating, for example, what four units per acre looks like, compared to greater or lesser concentrations of housing, the tool helps users envision more realistically how different degrees of density will fit into the context of their cities and towns.
As communities across the country work to address affordable housing, a common tactic has been to reform local zoning to allow more multi-family housing development, particularly at infill locations and near transit. That increase in housing supply, including four-plexes or so-called “missing middle” complexes of 20 units per acre or more, is by definition more dense than the single-family homes that have dominated the landscape. The public understanding of greater density in this context has become a central flashpoint in the effort to create more affordable housing.
CAMBRIDGE, MA – Despite wariness by established neighborhood residents, higher density development that is well-designed can fit in with the character of many neighborhoods, and has been the historic development pattern in many places for more than a century, the website shows. Visualizing Density also explains how higher density can improve the health of communities by saving land, conserving energy, and decreasing costs.
“Visualizing Density is an extremely helpful tool to inform planning development for a community, especially with the intention of improving affordability,” said George W. McCarthy, president and CEO of the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.
The database includes links to relevant resources, including interactive storymaps, case studies, and articles, as well as a link to the 2007 book Visualizing Density by Julie Campoli and Alex MacLean, which this subcenter was originally based upon.