Paula Span reports for the New York Times on multigenerational family residences. Think of them as family compounds, with a main house and a separate unit for the extended family. These “accessory dwelling units” or ADUs can work well.
Portland, Oregon is one of a number of big cities with ADUs. They are far more affordable than your standard home and come in all shapes and sizes. They could be a one or two bedroom structure that is a converted garage. Or, they could be a converted basement. They could be attached to the primary home or a totally separate unit.
The value of these family compounds is that the different family units can have separate living spaces but easily share meals, activities, and tasks. The grandparents are there to babysit the kids or to take the dog for a walk.
Older adults can downsize into an ADU and still have money in the bank. Building an ADU costs about $150,000 for around 600 square feet. If the older adults’ ADU is with a child or other loved one, they are likely to have built-in caregivers.
ADUs are not only a great way to ensure that older adults are socially engaged, they are a cost-effective way to live, both for the occupants of the ADUs and the occupants of the primary residence.
Some states and cities had zoning barriers or parking restrictions that made it hard to build ADUs. But, many are now changing their laws to encourage development of more ADUs.
The ADU market is quite small, but it is growing rapidly. In just a five years, the number of ADUs built in California went from around 1,200 to around 20,000. In 2020, there were an estimated 1.4 million ADUs in the US. Most are located in Florida, Georgia, Texas and California.
We still have a long way to go before we see a boom in the ADU market. The vast majority of the country–80 percent–includes neighborhoods that only allow for single-family homes. And, some communities that permit ADUs have parking rules and rules about occupancy that dissuade people from building ADUs.
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