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Homes We Need, Barriers We Built

Presented By
Allison Thurmond Quinlan

Development regulations often make housing, particularly starter homes, more expensive, if not impossible to build.

For example, most new houses have three bedrooms – something many families don't need. There are also restrictions on smaller lot sizes and attached single-family options. And financing requirements often exacerbate the gap between supply and demand.

As part of the Library’s Making a Great City series, Allison Thurmond Quinlan, an architect and advocate for infill development, will discuss how cities can boost affordable housing by removing some of these barriers. She also shares designs of some of the single and multi-family homes her firm has built as examples of what is possible when these barriers are removed.

In 2015, Quinlan started Flintlock LAB, a multidisciplinary consulting firm based in Fayetteville, Arkansas, which focuses on building lovable places that are socially, environmentally, and economically sustainable. Her policy experience includes serving as a planning commissioner and as a member of the construction board of appeals.

Quinlan’s work has garnered awards from the Congress for New Urbanism, the American Society of Landscape Architects, the American Institute of Architects, Architizer, and the American Planning Association.


If you need ADA accommodation to use Library services or attend Library events and programs, please notify us at least 3 business days in advance at 816.701.3409 or ADA@kclibrary.org. (TTY access available via 711 or 866.520.7309 for Spanish.)

The Kansas City Public Library could be videotaping and taking photos for possible inclusion in marketing and promotional communications.

Upcoming in this series:
Watch or Listen to Past Events in this Series:
Thursday, April 27, 2023 6:00pm
University of Virginia transit historian Peter Norton examines the need to revise our concept of city streets. They’re now so car- and speed-centric that they deter ...
11
Aug
You Don’t Have to Move Out of Your Neighborhood to...
Plaza Branch |
6:00pm
30
Jan
Strong Towns: The Profit, and Losses, of Growth
Plaza Branch |
6:30pm
25
Oct
Arbitrary Lines: How Zoning Broke the American Cit...
Plaza Branch |
6:00pm
7
Sep
Taking a ‘Collective’ Approach to Equitable Develo...
Plaza Branch |
6:00pm
Event 2025.11.13.jpg

Homes We Need, Barriers We Built

Date & Location
-
Truman Forum Auditorium
Online
In Person