If you work in policy and want to help, here’s where to start:

1. Reduce or eliminate Minimum Parking Requirements
   Requiring new developments to have to build parking increases construction costs immensely and contributes to converting more of our cities into parking lots, instead of much-needed housing.
   
2. Reduce minimum lot sizes
   Requiring homes to be built on excessively large plots of empty land means we can’t use the land to build housing, and requires homeowners to buy more land than they need.
   
3. Legalize Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs)
   Converted garages, attics or basements can be living spaces for our neighbors while also offering senior homeowners a source of income – if we make it legal!
   
4. Legalize denser forms of housing especially along transit corridors
   New, denser developments where there is infrastructure already there to support them allows for much more housing, more tax revenue, and minimal disruption.
   
5. Legalize Single-Stair buildings
   Much of the rest of the developed world allows for single-exit stairways in buildings ranging from 6-10 stories, but Michigan requires two stairwells in buildings three stories or taller, contributing to much more expensive housing.
   
6. Reform the role of public hearings and shorten the Permitting Process, especially for in-fill and adaptive re-use development
   Community input is essential for future growth, but our system currently makes it far too easy to stop the production of much-needed housing, particularly re-developments of empty or un-used lots in our cities.