Want to make housing more affordable? Start by designing neighborhoods, not just buildings.

When I introduced Victor, I had been watching The Last Dance about Michael Jordan. I described him as the Michael Jordan of urban planning. He is a superstar! While he was presenting virtually, he knocked it out of the park. (Click here to watch his presentation.)

Victor is the Principal-in-Charge of Dover, Kohl & Partners Town Planning and is an award-winning expert on livable communities and sustainable development. He is nationally recognized as an innovator in city planning, neighborhood design, and street design. He coauthored, with John Massengale, the breakthrough book Street Design: The Secret to Great Cities and Towns.

Affordable housing is a complex topic. For starters, there’s no clear definition of “affordable.” What is affordable to one community, or one person, may not be affordable to another.

Here’s how Victor explains it: When a city starts getting popular, a problem inevitably shows up, which impacts supply. Houses start getting built for those who can pay more (and have more choices). The cost of constructing and delivering housing rises. Meanwhile, often due to zoning, certain types of housing get restricted and the housing supply gets crimped. Meanwhile, wage growth often remains relatively flat. Over time a gap is created.

What happens then is that the community ends up with a lot of cost-burdened households. These are households that have to spend more than 40 percent of their monthly income on housing. When you factor in other costs like transportation (which can be really high due to urban sprawl), the situation is unsustainable. So then, the community realizes “We have to figure out how to get more housing available to people at a smaller percentage of their income.”

I like how Victor approaches the subject of affordable housing by first talking about creating great places. He talks about designing neighborhoods, not just buildings. He talks about creating human habitats where people want to live.

It’s not just a question of a community being affordable. It’s a question of placemaking. He opened his presentation by saying “Have you ever noticed some places feel like places, and others just feel like no place?” That really stuck with me.

Here are some highlights from his presentation:

Think in terms of town crafting.

Don’t take a utilitarian approach. It’s not just about putting shelter over our heads or allowing us to have streets to go from one place to another. Victor said a city is actually a concentrator and communicator of ideas. It’s a magnet for talent. It’s a place where people exchange socially and commercially. It’s an interconnected human habit.

Aim high. Imagine a plan that has something for everybody.

When you’ve created a great city, you have affordability and mobility where you need it. The city is inspiring and beautiful and artful. It’s environmentally sound. It’s set up to succeed even when major challenges come. Aim for this and even if you fall short, you’ll still end up with something good.

We don’t need cheap, mean-spirited housing.

Don’t make it ugly or undesirable just to keep the cost down. Neighborhoods need dignity. One solution is to mix different prices and styles and sizes and types of housing together on the same block. Bigger, grander houses can share streets with smaller cottages.

Affordable housing is tied directly to transportation.

The two are intertwined and must be considered together. People need to able to pay their rent or their mortgage—but they also need to be able to afford to get to work. And if you live in the suburbs, you’re going to have to spend a lot more money on gas. When you have a short commute, or even better no commute, it makes a huge difference in your quality of life.