ESCONDIDO — With median income home prices at $810,000, the Escondido City Council is turning to the so-called “missing middle” as it searches for ways to open the door to more attainable homeownership.
During a workshop on Tuesday, Escondido Development Services Director Kevin Snyder described missing middle housing not as a radical policy shift but as a return to housing types that once formed the backbone of American neighborhoods.
Those include duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, townhomes and cottage courts to fit in with the scale of single-family areas, while offering more attainable ownership options.
“I like to say housing requires a toolbox approach,” Snyder told the council. “There are many tools that we have to use in addressing this housing crisis. And missing middle housing is just one tool, but an important tool.”
The discussion unfolded against the backdrop of what Snyder describes as a “frozen” housing cycle. Traditionally, households move through a progression of housing, such as apartments to condos to single-family homes, freeing up housing at each step. The cycle, he said, is no longer functioning.
