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In this case, the higher density is driven by the extension of a light rail line and a planned new station. The project required a general plan amendment and new zoning. "It was a lengthy process but a fairly smooth one," says Seidel, because it is city policy in San Jose to increase density near transit stops.

Still, he says, "there's a lot of complexity to designing projects like this," particularly when it comes to parking. In this case, parking will be below grade, and it will be shared, allowing the city to reduce the number of spaces required by 15 percent.

A combination of education and inventive design can make higher density acceptable," says Seidel. But not everyone is comfortable with the idea. Seidel recently was asked by a county redevelopment agency to talk about new ideas in housing, including density. He was stunned, he says, when his contact at the agency said, "There's only one thing. Don't use the word."

Try a little green

Rob Inerfeld, AICP, believes that making communities more appealing is the way to sell density. Inerfeld is the director of Community Greens, an 18-month-old nonprofit initiative based in Washington, D.C., that promotes the idea of transforming the center of residential blocks into shared open space.

Its founder is William Orayton, a former management consultant who was inspired by his own Manhattan block and its common backyards.

"Our premise," says Inerfeld, "is that many people flee to the suburbs for the greenery. If we can create green spaces in cities, that's a way to keep them." A case in point: Montgomery Park, a block of five-story row houses, dating from the 1860s, in Boston's South End. In recent years, cars have been banned from the alley and landscaping installed. Residents "traded in a parking lot for a park," says Inerfeld. The result: Real estate agents say buyers pay a five percent premium to live on the block.



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