A Conversation with Ross Chapin

A Conversation with Ross Chapin

From The Messy City Podcast by Kevin Klinkenberg

February 2, 2026 · 1h 7m

About this episode

Ross Chapin discusses the importance of design in micro-communities and how it impacts human well-being.

One of the great trends in housing from recent decades has been the revived interest in micro-communities, especially those organized around shared courtyards. I first started to learn about this in the late 1990s, and am delighted to say it’s really picked up steam since then. Ross Chapin has been at the forefront of all this, and taught many of us how to do it well. In this episode, Ross talks about how in some sense he accidentally got into doing this kind of work, how it changed his practice, and then importantly we explore key approaches to design and details that make it all work. Ross likes to say, “If you’re in your happy place, you’re going to sing.” But do we achieve that just by lining up a bunch of buildings around a lawn space? No, the details really matter, and Ross takes us through how to balance security and connection, how to think about layers of space, and how to design small homes and spaces that feel great. Every once in a while, I get in trouble with diehard YIMBY (Yes In My Backyard) activists because I insist that design of housing matters, and we need to build housing that actually satisfies human needs. Yes, we need to make it vastly easier to build just…

People in this episode

Host: Kevin Klinkenberg

Guest: Ross Chapin

Topics covered

  • micro-communities
  • housing design
  • shared courtyards
  • human well-being
  • community connection

Keywords

  • micro-communities
  • housing design
  • shared courtyards
  • human needs
  • community connection

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