Madison leaders propose wider allowance of duplexes, backyard lots to increase housing supply

MADISON, Wis. (WMDX) – Madison leaders have unveiled new plans to “gently” increase housing in the city by allowing duplexes everywhere, and allowing people to build backyard units. 

The housing shortage has become a big-picture crisis in Dane County. We have some of the lowest vacancy rates in the country. 

We’re Popular: Madison is Growing Faster than Expected

The city is growing faster than officials expected. In 2013, officials from the Wisconsin Department of Administration expected Madison to have about 250,000 residents in 2020, and 270,000 by 2030.

Meanwhile the city had nearly 270,000 residents in 2020, 10 years earlier than officials predicted. 

By 2050, the area is expected to have 115,000 more residents than it does now. 

In the shorter term, city officials are planning to add 15,000 homes by 2030 to keep up with that population growth. Now they’re proposing new city legislation that would make it easier to meet those goals, and add more housing. 

New Housing Proposals: Duplexes and Backyard Lots

Duplexes are currently allowed in about one third of the city. One of the proposals would allow duplexes everywhere.

“Some of our most popular and vibrant neighborhoods are neighborhoods that consist of one-unit, two-unit, three-unit homes all intermixed,” said Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway. “One block around my house and there’s a number of one-units, there’s several two-units, there’s a three-unit just down the block from me … and I’ve got one of the most popular neighborhoods in Madison right now. So what we’re trying to do is make it legal to build the kinds of neighborhoods that used to get built in Madison, that people want to live in.”

The package also includes allowing people with what they call “deep” lots to split up their property, so another unit can be built in their backyard. That would be totally up to the owner. 

Creating more housing in established neighborhoods can be a tough sell to residents. but alder Tag Evers says doing it with proposals like this, which are not targeting big apartment buildings, can make a difference. 

“Density … is a dirty word for some,” Evers said. “Not all the changes, however, that we need to embrace are dramatic. Allowing duplexes by right in all areas of the city adds gentle density, imposing rather modest changes to our city’s housing landscape, allowing more housing types in our traditional neighborhoods … Otherwise, we end up on the losing end of the law of supply and demand, meaning our teachers, nurses, cops and firefighters can no longer afford to live in Madison.”

These proposals have a lot of sponsors, and are expected to pass the common council.