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A study on three areas in North Carolina to showcase upzoning potential.

North Carolina in particular has seen some of the greatest land use reforms in terms of what is deemed the “YIMBY” movement here in the United States. An acronym for “yes in my backyard”, YIMBY advocates believe restraining housing supply via regulatory frameworks such as zoning is a large reason why housing remains prohibitively expensive.

Carolina Forward is an advocacy agency working to improve the state through better policy, of which housing is a large component: if you can’t afford to live somewhere, future prosperity is limited to only a select few. From their site:

“Carolina Forward is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit policy organization that advocates for ideas, policies and values to build a stronger North Carolina that works for all its people.”

We were hired to visualize what upzoning in-demand parcels in three areas of the state could look like for future infill. We focused on Charlotte, Raleigh, and areas in the Research Triangle. Each of these places have their own challenges, contextual built environment, and architectural heritage. This exercise goes to show that additional density need not be massive or monolithic apartment buildings atop commercial corridors. Instead, infill can be incremental, sensitive, and joyous. →