Suburban Densification
This pattern is shaped by
Problem
Established single-family neighborhoods have infrastructure, schools, parks, and mature trees — but they house fewer people than they did in the 1960s as household sizes shrink. Adding housing without destroying the garden-scale intimacy that makes these neighborhoods loved is one of the great design challenges of the century.
Evidence and Discussion
The critical unit is the *block*, not the lot. Density works when you can see how three or four lots work together — shared gardens, complementary building placement, preserved sight lines, a pattern of variety that feels grown rather than imposed.
Therefore
add housing to established neighborhoods at the block scale: laneway houses first, then internal conversions, then lot-splits, then gentle infill on underused lots. Preserve existing trees. Match the scale and materials of existing buildings. Create shared gardens where lots are consolidated. Never add more than double the existing density on any single block within a decade. A well-densified block has the variety of a village — small houses and large ones, gardens shared and private, faces on the lane and faces on the street.