Richmond could be a place where everyone has a home they can afford in a neighborhood they love.
Right now, we’re not living up to that promise. But we have an opportunity to expand housing options, promote affordability, and prevent existing residents from getting pushed out — with Code Refresh, a zoning overhaul underway now.
Homes for All Our Neighbors is a coalition of individuals and organizations united to ensure Code Refresh creates opportunity for all.
What we believe
Housing is a human right. Everyone deserves a safe, stable place to live at a price they can afford.
We need more homes, of all shapes and sizes, for all our neighbors.
Richmond has a responsibility to repair harm caused by housing policies past—including displacement of longtime residents—through positive change today.
What we know
Some of Richmond's most desired neighborhoods could not be built today. Zoning changes in the 1960s and '70s made it illegal to build popular housing types like many of those we see in the Fan, Jackson Ward, Carver, and Church Hill.
It’s also illegal to build apartments in most parts of our city. Richmond’s current zoning code allows only single-family homes on 59% of the land here.
Renters are 58% of our population—a majority competing for a minority of space. Stiff competition drives up prices and pits neighbors against each other.
In a 2023 resolution declaring a housing crisis, Richmond’s City Council estimated that we have a shortage of at least 23,000 homes.
Housing costs are historically high. Mortgage payments today for median-priced homes are double what they were in 2020. Average Richmond rents have jumped by a third in the same span.
Richmond has room to grow: today’s population is 20,000 lower than in 1970. But the homes we have don't meet the needs of today’s neighbors and families.
Richmond's legacy of segregation means some neighborhoods have absorbed development pressure while others have been protected. If Code Refresh takes a truly citywide approach, we can ensure all neighborhoods contribute to solving our housing shortage, rather than asking a few to shoulder the entire effort.
Richmond has an opportunity to expand housing choice and create less segregated, more inclusive neighborhoods—action required by the federal Fair Housing Act. Our current zoning code sharply limits where families of different backgrounds can live. Code Refresh could help reverse decades of exclusionary policy and create pathways to opportunity for all residents.
RVAGreen2050, Richmond's Climate Equity Action Plan, notes that changing our land use and transportation patterns is critical to reducing emissions. Building more housing near transit, jobs, and services can create more walkable areas, resulting in fewer car trips and a greener, healthier city.
Code Refresh—building on the city’s nationally award-winning master plan, Richmond 300—would make it easier to build the homes we need, gently adding to the landscape of housing options here while retaining neighborhood character through sensitive design standards and community engagement.
What we support
Legalizing duplexes on all single-family lots.
Allowing the next level of development (from single-family to duplex, from duplex to triplex, and so on) in all neighborhoods.
Ensuring that Code Refresh allows more housing in all neighborhoods—advancing racial equity by ensuring that affordable homes and new development aren’t concentrated only in historically Black or low-income areas.
Affirming City Council’s previous legislation legalizing accessory dwelling units (ADUs), the small, backyard homes that create new, affordable housing at a human scale—and generate new opportunities for homeowners.
Building displacement guardrails by identifying neighborhoods with the greatest risk of losing longtime residents and tailoring development there to meet their needs.
Making it easier to build homes near transit, jobs, and daily needs—reducing the time people spend in cars and away from their kids and families, while expanding housing choice.