Skip to main content
On May 15, 2024, the City held a Community Conversations event focusing on how the City is complying with state middle housing rules and regulations. Notes from that meeting are available here.

What is Middle Housing?

Middle housing refers to a range of smaller attached or clustered housing types that are typically built at a similar scale as single-family detached houses. In Oregon and Albany, middle housing refers to duplexes, triplexes, quadplexes, townhouses, and cottage clusters.

The term "missing middle housing" was coined by urban planner Daniel Parolek to refer to housing that fits in between single-family homes and larger apartment buildings but that's largely been missing from most cities' neighborhood patterns for many decades. Middle housing was common in neighborhoods in most communities prior to World War II. However, Albany and many other cities prohibited or significantly limited middle housing in single-family neighborhoods through zoning regulations that categorized them as "multi-family housing." Middle housing is subject to the same height and lot coverage standards as detached dwelling units to blend into existing neighborhoods.

missing middle housing

The Community Development Department guides growth and development within Albany by balancing the needs of current residents with those of future generations to ensure that the community remains a vibrant and desirable place to live, work, and play.

Contact us

 541-917-7550

 Email

 Request inspection

 333 Broadalbin SW (2nd floor)

Back to Top