The Milwaukee-area is in need of a lot more affordable housing. There have been many proposed solutions to the shortfall – including rezoning initiatives and incentivizing the building of new, affordable apartments. Now, some communities are focusing on another solution: so-called granny flats, or accessory dwelling units (ADU).
ADUs are separate homes built on a single lot, that can help increase density in a neighborhood. Journalist Adam Rogan wrote about these initiatives in this month’s Milwaukee Magazine.
“Milwaukee and a lot of suburbs, especially Wauwatosa, want to encourage this kind of development because it can bring in more population density, which increases the tax base without building apartments – which tend to bring a lot of NIMBYs who want to oppose it,” he says.
Rogan says building new apartment buildings in neighborhoods comprised of single-family homes is often met with resistance from residents concerned about declining property values. ADUs offer an alternative that can increase density as well as age diversity, with larger families coming into a neighborhood.
“An ADU tends to actually help the neighboring properties,” he says. “It shows vibrancy in the area, especially when it’s maintained.”
While ADUs are a cost-effective measure that can help increase the supply of housing, local officials Rogan spoke to, see them as just one piece of the puzzle in addressing Milwaukee’s affordable housing crisis.
“We’re not going to be seeing ADUs filling in every single block,” Rogan says. “We’re not going to see every single person having two properties on every lot, but you can probably start seeing it more now that these restrictions have been relaxed.”
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