City of Mill Creek

What is Middle Housing?
Middle Housing is defined as duplexes, triplexes - sixplexes, townhouses, courtyard apartments, cottage housing, and stacked flats. From both a size and design perspective, these housing types provide higher densities and intensity of use than single-family detached houses, but can blend well into single-family neighborhoods.


Did you know Mill Creek has a lot of Middle Housing?
Mill Creek already has a significant amount of Middle Housing designed to fit in with the character of our community including townhomes at North Pointe, duplexes at The Masters and duplexes and fourplexes at The Pointe. 

Why are we talking about this now?
Mill Creek received a grant from the state for the Middle Housing Project to study middle housing, engage the community, and look at ways to address housing equity issues through middle housing.

The high cost of housing
Has the rising cost of housing made it difficult for you or people you know to move into housing that meets your needs? Do you wonder whether young families or retirees on a fixed income can find good places to live in Mill Creek? Middle Housing is one approach that can help address some of the housing issues Mill Creek and other communities around the region are confronting. These housing types are affordable to a broader range of income levels and can be smaller in size, which is attractive to young couples, single parents, and other non-nuclear families. Additionally, an emphasis on design allows middle housing to fit seamlessly in existing neighborhoods. These housing types can support changing demographic needs, provide more housing options for middle-income workers, and create more inclusive communities.

What is this project going to study?
The purpose of this Middle Housing Project is to engage the community on housing-related issues, create draft policy and implementation options for increasing middle housing, perform a racial equity and anti-displacement analysis, and prepare for Mill Creek’s 2024 Comprehensive Plan update. The City and consultant will do this by conducting public outreach, reviewing current housing policies and development regulations, and evaluating where the city inadvertently incentivizes and disincentivizes middle housing. They will also focus on developing draft policies to address displacement, which can occur when redevelopment takes place, and completing a racial equity analysis on current policies and code.

This project will not result in any changes to City of Mill Creek code or policy, but the information gathered could help inform decisions in the future. We will update this page as information changes and when community engagement opportunities are announced. Your voice is important!