Across North America, cities are experiencing a crisis of affordability, housing scarcity, and urban fragmentation. In the face of this, one solution is gaining traction not just as a practical way to address housing needs, but as a strategy for long-term urban resilience: incremental housing.

Unlike the sweeping developments that often dominate municipal planning agendas—those characterized by towering condos or expansive subdivisions—incremental housing is a slow, steady, bottom-up process. It’s about allowing communities to grow and evolve naturally by making small, context-sensitive changes that reflect the needs and capacities of existing residents.

Strong Towns, a movement committed to making cities financially resilient, argues that incremental housing is not only a viable strategy—it’s a necessary one.

The Flawed Logic of Big Development

For decades, municipal planning in North America has operated under a “build big or do nothing” model. Large-scale developments promise big returns, but they often come with big risks: gentrification, displacement, and unsustainable infrastructure costs. When neighborhoods are prevented by zoning laws from modest, incremental change, they stagnate. New housing supply becomes bottlenecked into a few large projects, typically delivered by major developers with deep pockets and considerable political clout.

This model excludes everyday people—those who might wish to add a small rental unit to their property, or convert a single-family home into a duplex to support a multigenerational household. These small acts of adaptation are the very essence of a living city, and their suppression has contributed to the housing crises many cities face today.

What Is Incremental Housing?

Incremental housing allows for these small-scale changes. It encourages the kinds of development that are gentle, flexible, and adaptable. Think of a backyard apartment, a converted garage, or a corner lot turned into a small fourplex. These are not radical transformations—they are incremental improvements that create more options, more affordability, and more diversity in our housing stock.

Importantly, this approach relies on local people being able to invest in their own neighborhoods. It doesn’t require massive capital or complex financing structures. It simply requires that cities stop standing in the way.

Why It Matters: The Economic and Social Case

Incremental housing makes sense not just from a human perspective, but from a financial one as well. Cities across the continent are facing massive infrastructure liabilities. Roads, water lines, sewer systems—many were built during a post-war boom when suburban expansion was heavily subsidized. Today, those systems need repair or replacement, and the tax base in sprawling neighborhoods isn’t sufficient to pay for them.

This is where incremental housing provides an answer. By allowing more people to live in existing neighborhoods, cities can increase the productivity of their land without the need for expensive new infrastructure. Every additional household in a walkable, serviced neighborhood adds value to that community, increases municipal revenue per acre, and helps pay for long-term maintenance costs.

Socially, the benefits are just as strong. Incremental housing allows neighborhoods to accommodate a wider range of people—young adults, seniors, low-income residents, and newcomers. It enables families to live closer together and supports local businesses by putting more feet on the street. And because it happens gradually, it allows communities to adapt over time, rather than being radically upended by sudden, large-scale developments.

The Barriers to Change

So why isn’t incremental housing happening everywhere? The biggest obstacle is outdated zoning laws. In many cities, zoning codes still reserve vast areas of land exclusively for single-family homes. These laws criminalize common-sense developments that were once normal in cities: a second unit out back, a shop on the corner with an apartment above, or a small apartment building nestled into a block of houses.

Strong Towns calls for these policies to be reformed. Cities should allow “the next increment of development by right”—meaning, without requiring special permissions, variances, or public hearings. Property owners should be empowered to make small improvements without jumping through bureaucratic hoops.

Another barrier is financing. Traditional banks often won’t lend to small developers or individuals looking to build a triplex or backyard unit. Instead, the financing system is geared toward large projects with predictable returns. To change this, cities and local institutions need to support alternative financing models, like revolving loan funds, credit unions, or micro-lending programs tailored for small builders.

And then there is public resistance. Many residents are fearful that more housing in their neighborhood means more traffic, less parking, or a loss of character. These fears are not always baseless, but they often come from a misunderstanding of what incremental housing looks like. This is not about skyscrapers in the suburbs—it’s about gentle density, thoughtful design, and incremental change. Outreach, education, and demonstration projects are key to building public support.

Success in Action

Despite these challenges, some cities are beginning to embrace the potential of incremental housing. In Dallas, recent zoning changes now allow up to eight units on certain lots—a major step toward unlocking missing middle housing. In Seattle, streamlined permitting and relaxed restrictions have led to thousands of new backyard cottages and ADUs, expanding the city’s housing supply in a relatively low-impact way. Other cities like Minneapolis and Portland have also taken bold steps to reform exclusionary zoning and support small-scale development.

These examples show what’s possible when cities treat their residents as partners in development rather than obstacles to be managed. With the right policies and mindset, every neighborhood can be a place of opportunity.

A Smarter Way to Grow

The case for incremental housing is not just about housing—it’s about the future of our cities. It’s about shifting away from speculative mega-projects and toward a more grounded, people-centered approach to growth. It’s about recognizing that resilience isn’t built overnight, but one small step at a time.

Strong Towns puts it simply: strong communities are built incrementally. They grow through trial and error, adaptation, and investment by the people who live there. They are financially sustainable, socially inclusive, and responsive to the needs of their residents.

Cities that embrace incremental housing don’t just solve the housing crisis—they build places that are worth living in for generations to come.