As debate heats up over a likely rent-control measure on next year’s statewide ballot, I thought I might as well put a plug in for my new favorite idea to help ease the state’s housing crisis. Here goes: Why not “duplexes by right”? Massachusetts now has Accessory Dwelling Units by right. Why not extend that concept to include duplexes? If anything, duplexes are arguably better, from both aesthetic and affordability standpoints, than ADUs. If done right, duplexes can blend right into a neighborhood and mostly eliminate the “loss of character” argument many NIMBY types reflexively deploy when opposing new housing in their communities. (See photo above of a ‘stacked’ duplex, as opposed to a horizontal duplex.) … This  idea has been bugging me since I recently posted about the city of Manchester’s new zoning-reform proposals, which include making it easier to build duplexes in most single-family districts. Granted, some NIMBY types will oppose any new housing, but, as officials in Manchester discovered via extensive homeowner surveys, most people don’t mind duplexes as much as they do larger multifamily complexes. … Anyway, that’s my Hub Blog policy-wonk suggestion of the day.

Fyi: A number of towns in Massachusetts already have, or are mulling, various duplex-related zoning rules, beyond ADU and  MBTA Communities Act requirements. But there’s no statewide “duplex by right” law. … Laura M. Moynihan, executive director at the Falmouth Housing Trust Inc., has a good explainer piece on the benefits of duplexes, as Falmouth considers its own zoning changes.

Fyi II – Definitely check out Scott Van Voorhis’s Contrarian Boston post this morning on the little-known referendum initiative that would make it easier to build, via lot-size changes, smaller starter homes in Massachusetts.