Suite Vancouver – 3: "ADUs and Don’ts"

Alan Durning of the Sightline Institute finishes his series on ADUs (accessory dwelling units) with a survey of what’s happening elsewhere in Cascadia – here comparing Vancouver with other Cascadian cities.
Guess what?  We rate 96 out of 100 on the ADU Friendliness Score.

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Alan adds some historical context:

During World War II, housing for military-industry workers precipitated widespread subdivisions of houses in Portland and in Vancouver, BC. Neighborhoods full of one-household-per-lot dwellings became neighborhoods full of dwellings split among two or three households. War mobilization swept aside local opposition. After the war, most of these neighborhoods and houses reverted to their single-family norm. The gathering trend of ADU legalization and development across the Northwest promises to repeat and make permanent that brief war-time period.
Unfortunately, citizens have yet to convey to city halls that rising to housing and climate challenges warrants the kinds of sweeping changes witnessed during the 1940s. And the politics of zoning reforms are doubly hamstrung. First, as argued previously, classist attitudes and financial self-interest have long motivated a potent coalition against renters in single-family zones. There’s a quote passed around among planners in the Northwest, often repeated with a smirk. It’s an exaggeration, but it’s not a lie: “In India, they have the caste system. In England, they have the class system. Here, we have zoning.”
That’s why Kitsilano is such an important example: the density is there, but it’s mostly invisible, hidden in a landscape of classic Northwest bungalows. ADUs provide density that do not trigger class opposition in the same way that the words “duplex” or “apartment building” do.

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Full article – with details and qualifications on scoring – here.