Tucson Opened Survey for Middle-Housing Designs

Tucson residents are ranking 50 housing designs to help build the city's pre-approved model plan library.

Updated on Oct. 3, 2026 in Remote Work

Isometric editorial illustration of small residential housing models arranged on a city grid, representing urban planning. — Tucson has opened a public survey allowing residents to rank 50 middle-housing designs for a new pre-approved model plan library. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

Live Poll

Should cities allow denser middle-housing designs to be built in existing residential neighborhoods?

Tucson has invited residents to rank their favorite middle-housing designs from a pool of 50 submissions. The city will select 15 designs to add to its Casita Model Plan Library to simplify residential construction.

Why it matters

Saving middle-housing designs as pre-approved plans makes the building process more expeditious for developers and homeowners. This initiative follows the Tucson City Council's December 2025 vote to allow middle-housing on most residential lots.

Residents are tasked with ranking their top 3 selections from 50 total contest entries. Winning designers will receive a $1,000 award for their plans.

The players

Tucson City Council

The local governing body responsible for setting city policies and legislative agendas.

The details

Tucson defines middle-housing as residential structures that fall between the scale of single-family homes and large apartment complexes. By waiving building review fees for the selected 15 models, the city aims to streamline the development process across residential lots.

The Tucson City Council voted to allow middle-housing in December 2025.
The city's middle-housing policy took effect in January 2026.
A design contest was held from July to September 2026.
The resident survey deadline is 5 p.m. on October 22, 2026.

Market Landscape

Tucson is actively aligning its residential development standards with the Arizona state mandate requiring cities with at least 75,000 residents to permit middle-housing. This shift positions the city to increase housing density while standardizing building aesthetics and safety through the new model plan library.

Residents can directly influence the aesthetic and scale of new housing developments in their neighborhoods by participating in the survey. The initiative aims to reduce building review fees and speed up the construction of new housing units in the city.

The takeaway

Engaging with local planning surveys allows citizens to shape the future of residential development in their own communities. By simplifying the approval process, the city intends to lower barriers to building the middle-housing options needed to address current housing shortages.