The Missing Middle
99% Invisible18 Maj 2022

The Missing Middle

Downtown Toronto has a dense core of tall, glassy buildings along the waterfront of Lake Ontario. Outside of that, lots short single family homes sprawl out in every direction. Residents looking for something in between an expensive house and a condo in a tall, generic tower struggle to find places to live. There just aren’t a lot of these mid-sized rental buildings in the city.

And it's not just Toronto -- a similar architectural void can be found in many other North American cities, like Los Angeles, Seattle, Boston and Vancouver. And this is a big concern for urban planners -- so big, there's a term for it. The "missing middle." That moniker can be confusing, because it's not directly about middle class housing -- rather, it's about a specific range of building sizes and typologies, including: duplexes, triplexes, courtyard buildings, multi-story apartment complexes, the list goes on. Buildings like these have an outsized effect on cities, and cities without enough of these kinds of buildings often suffer from their absence.

The Missing Middle

Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of 99% Invisible ad-free and a whole week early.

Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus.


Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Avsnitt(787)

Murder Most Fowl

Murder Most Fowl

While urban parks are safe havens for birds, parks are often surrounded by condos and hotels and office buildings with floor-to-ceiling windows. And these all-glass building facades are the absolute w...

5 Apr 202227min

Dear Hank and John and Roman

Dear Hank and John and Roman

So why don't we have mouth Roombas? Is the universe full of chickens? What scientific advances are happening? What was the first internet purchase? How do I convince my parents to let me check a bag? ...

30 Mars 202258min

Grid Locked

Grid Locked

In February 2021, it began to snow in Austin, Texas, which was unusual, and exciting for some, at least until the power dropped out for millions of people. To many, this came as a shock – how could a ...

22 Mars 202249min

Natalie de Blois: To Tell the Truth

Natalie de Blois: To Tell the Truth

Natalie de Blois contributed to some of the most iconic Modernist works created for corporate America, all while raising four children. After leaving this significant mark on postwar Park Avenue, she ...

15 Mars 202249min

The Future of the Final Mile

The Future of the Final Mile

While something like dial-up might mostly be a thing of the past, the truth is copper phone lines still connect a lot of people to the internet over DSL. And even many people’s coaxial cable connectio...

11 Mars 202243min

Broken Heart Park

Broken Heart Park

In the 1990s Dave Davis worked as the groundskeeper at a small neighborhood park in a suburb of St. Louis called Creve Coeur. It was an unpaid position, but it came with a strange perk: as part of the...

8 Mars 202237min

According to Need wins duPont-Columbia Award

According to Need wins duPont-Columbia Award

The Columbia Journalism School recently announced the 16 winners of the 2022 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards, including According to Need, a project of 99% Invisible produced by Katie Ming...

1 Mars 202259min

Art Imitates Art

Art Imitates Art

There's a small neighborhood within the SEZ of Shenzhen that is known for mass-producing copies of the most celebrated works of Western art, all painted quickly and by hand. The place is called Dafen ...

22 Feb 202240min

Populärt inom Business & ekonomi

framgangspodden
varvet
rss-jossan-nina
svd-tech-brief
badfluence
rss-borsens-finest
rss-svart-marknad
uppgang-och-fall
bathina-en-podcast
lastbilspodden
tabberaset
rss-inga-dumma-fragor-om-pengar
avanzapodden
fill-or-kill
rss-dagen-med-di
rss-kort-lang-analyspodden-fran-di
borsmorgon
24fragor
rss-veckans-trade
montrosepodden