Welcome to the fourth episode of Our Buildings, Our Selves: Humanity in Architecture, a monthly podcast produced by Common Edge, the Connecticut Architecture Foundation, the Connecticut AIA, and Bridgeport public radio station WPKN.  

We’re in a housing crisis in the U.S., literally everywhere. Cities, suburbs, and rural areas are, together, millions of units short of what is needed, for a variety of reasons: zoning, construction costs, the vagaries of the free market, neighborhood opposition. Developers seem unable to produce anything but housing at the top of the market, where it’s least needed. And the little bit aimed at the middle they do manage to build is uninspiring and unloved—like a restaurant with “bad food, and small portions,” as one of our guests puts it. 

How do we break free of this stalemate? Duo Dickinson and Martin C. Pedersen talk with Gerhard W. Mayer and Lindsey Stirman, co-founders of the Livable Communities Initiative, a Los Angeles–based organization dedicated to creating a new paradigm for housing development. They reject both NIMBYism (Not In My Backyard) and its knee-jerk opposite, YIMBYism (yes to any sort of housing, regardless of quality), arguing instead for an altogether different mode: QUIMBY (Quality In My Backyard). Because when housing developments include elements like walkability, green space, gentle density, and access to transit, opposition tends to dissipate. 

Lindsay Sturman, a television writer and producer, is co-founder of the Livable Communities Initiative, a Los Angeles–based nonprofit dedicated to promoting 15-minute neighborhoods through a holistic approach to housing, traffic, and mobility solutions. She’s also the co-host of Bike Talk, a podcast and syndicated radio show that explores sustainable transportation and bike advocacy.

Gerhard W. Mayer  is an architect who embraces a paradigm shift toward walkable, equitable, and sustainable high-quality urban living. Originally from Vienna, Austria, he emigrated to the U.S. on a Fulbright Scholarship in Sustainable Design and Architecture. A cofounder of the Livable Communities Initiative, he initiated California’s Social Housing Study trips to Vienna, which have prompted a rethinking of how to provide attainable housing in our own cities. He is also a prolific writer and has started several local initiatives and nonprofits in an effort to create a better Southern California.

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Our guest for the next episode of Our Buildings, Our Selves will be the legendary architect and artist James Wines.