Why does the U.S. require so many apartment buildings to have two stairways? In this episode, YIMBY Law’s Sonja Trauss sits down with Stephen Smith, Executive Director of the Center for Building in North America, and Nashville Councilmember Rollin Horton to discuss the rise of single-stair reform and what it reveals about the building codes that shape housing across the country. The conversation explores how single-stair reform spread from experiences in Europe and Seattle to cities like Nashville, how Horton helped make it law, and why it passed unanimously despite facing opposition from fire officials.
They also discuss why single-stair reform can make smaller multifamily buildings more feasible, how zoning determines where these buildings can actually be built, and why changing building codes alone isn't enough to solve our housing shortage. They dig into the history and problems with fire escapes, the relationship between building design and air conditioning, and how requirements around windows, light wells, lot-line windows, and occupied roofs can shape the homes that get built.
The conversation then turns to what could become the “next single stair,” including the high cost of elevators, plumbing requirements, and window standards, as well as Nashville's recent reforms to make childcare easier to build. They wrap up the discussion with whether better-looking buildings could reduce opposition to new housing, why aesthetics haven't necessarily softened NIMBY opposition, and how building codes and zoning can unintentionally produce worse and more expensive housing.
Want to learn more? Check out some of the resources and research mentioned in this episode.
Stephen Smith and Eduardo Mendoza's research on single-stair housing: https://www.huduser.gov/portal/periodicals/cityscape/vol26num1/article25.html
Stephen Smith's report on elevators: https://admin.centerforbuilding.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Elevators.pdf
Nashville's single-stair legislation: https://nashville.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?FullText=1&GUID=E78FEA01-2914-44F0-AA1C-AC9E5F20F6FF&ID=6500897&utm
Seattle's single-stair reform: https://www.theurbanist.org/seattles-lead-on-single-stair-buildings/
Does ugly architecture stop homes from getting built: https://worksinprogress.co/issue/beauty-in-my-backyard/
Join YIMBY Action's Email List: https://actionnetwork.org/forms/yimby-action-mailing-list
Learn more about YIMBY Action: https://yimbyaction.org/join
Follow YIMBY Action on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yimbyaction/
Follow YIMBY Action on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/yimbyaction.bsky.social
Follow YIMBY Action on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yimbyaction/
