The Claim
Building high density will enable more young people to enter the housing market. 

The Strategy
Proponents claim that current residents are being selfish for fighting higher density. They say that the only way for them to live in Berkeley like their parents did is to build more homes. Creating these new homes will allow them to buy into the market, or create a cascade of availability as people move into these new homes from the older homes, which will then become more affordable.  

The Facts
Many people do not consider living in a small apartment in a large multi-unit building with no yard to be part of the American Dream. But density is profitable for developers, and the new zoning regulations encourage single family homes to be demolished and exactly this sort of market rate housing to be built. 

The kind of housing that would help aspiring homeowners to enter the market would be duplexes, triplexes, and smaller homes built on a lot, which is exactly what the original vision of middle housing was proposed to provide. According to Berkeley’s Dan Parolek, who is credited with inventing the term in his book entitled Missing Middle Housing, it is “…a range of multi-unit or clustered housing types, compatible in scale with single family homes, that help meet the growing demand for walkable urban living, respond to shifting household demographics, and meet the need for more housing choices at different price points.” [emphasis added] In fact, Missing Middle Housing is found in almost all neighborhoods in Berkeley, where duplexes and small apartment buildings are interspersed with single family housing. Take a walk around town and you will find it everywhere. 

Existing zoning, before the Middle Housing Ordinance (MHO) was passed, together with the changes in the accessory dwelling unit (ADU) laws, provided for Middle Housing already. But rather than try and figure out the admittedly difficult task of how to implement the original vision of Middle Housing and preserve the neighborhoods, the City Council saw fit to hijack the term, and use it to promote 3 story-apartment buildings with at least 8 units a on a small lot in your neighborhood with up to 12 units or more and heights of 5 stories if a density bonus is triggered. 

The Bottom Line
While more starter homes could become available as older residents move out, perhaps to smaller more accessible units, there is no evidence that their homes will become affordable for first time home buyers. The new MHO will make it much more likely that a developer, corporate owner or hedge fund would be able to outbid a potential individual buyer. 

New homes that are built will require the demolition of the remaining homes most affordable to first time home buyers in Berkeley, likely replacing them with small apartments in multi-unit market rate apartment buildings with virtually no open space, or a fewer number of unaffordable luxury units. Neither of these could be considered a “starter home”. And this demolition will happen without any public hearings or recourse.