# The end of the single-family home hegemony

By [Brandon Donnelly](https://brandondonnelly.com) · 2023-07-20

adu, as-of-right, austin, by-right, fourplex, garden-suite, gentle-density, housing, laneway-suite, missing-middle, planning, toronto, urbanism, vancouver

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I opened Twitter today and one of the first tweets that I saw was about Austin passing a new resolution that allows 3 homes on every lot by-right; lowers the minimum lot size to 2,500 sf; and expedites planning approvals for triplexes and fourplexes. I then scrolled a bit further and found a tweet on how Vancouver is about to vote on a new motion that will allow 4-6 homes on every residential lot as-of-right. (The US typically uses the term "by-right", whereas in Canada we use "as-of-right".)

None of this is surprising. As many of you know, Toronto just did something similar by allowing fourplexes + a laneway or garden suite on every residential lot. But all of this is still noteworthy because it reinforces one simple fact: cities across North America are all starting to rethink their low-rise single-family neighborhoods. I know that many of you will say that fourplexes are not enough. We should be doing more. But I think this is an important step.

The single-family home hegemony is ending. We are now asking our cities to do more with the same amount of land.

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*Originally published on [Brandon Donnelly](https://brandondonnelly.com/the-end-of-the-single-family-home-hegemony)*