The Future Cities Institute hosted a panel discussion offering a candid look at what it actually takes to deliver family-sized, missing middle housing that the market rarely produces on its own.
Panelists Philip Mills, Michelle Lee, Michael Maxwell, and Mayor Dorothy McCabe shared grounded, experience-based perspectives on the realities of delivering permanently attainable home ownership at scale. Three themes carried through the conversation: that this kind of housing delivery only happens through genuine cross-sector partnership; that approvals processes, overlapping reviews, and unresolved comments create significant delays long before construction begins; and that planners add the most value when they help navigate complexity and move projects forward, not simply restate policy.
It was a discussion that went well beyond the headlines, and one that resonated with both students and practitioners in the room.