From NIMBY to Neighborhoods: How Greg Burke is Making “Missing Middle” Housing Work

Quinton Comino: Hello everyone. Today I'm going to sit down with Greg. He's an architect, an urban planning designer, and an advocate for attainable housing. He's just about everything that you can imagine when it comes to building and construction. He has a ton of experience—71 years old—so he's been in the industry for a very, very long time and knows what he's talking about. We're going to learn some fantastic things: what sprawl is, affordable housing compared to attainable housing, and a lot about zoning—form-based zoning, no zoning, very restrictive zoning, and a bunch of different terms that are very relevant. Whether you realize it or not, the community you live in was designed intentionally or unintentionally. Today we're going to learn about some of those things so that when you're going to work, you can understand a little bit more about why your work is here, your house is here, and the roads were designed the way they were. So tune in and let's learn something great.

Quinton Comino (02:48): So to start, Greg, do you just want to let us know who you're with, what you do, and your journey from Ohio to Florida?

Greg Burke, FAIA (03:31): Okay, sounds good.

Quinton Comino (03:45): Your job and business—tell us about that journey.

Greg Burke, FAIA (03:49): Sure. First of all, thanks for having me. I appreciate it. In between Ohio and Florida, I lived in Texas and New Jersey. I worked with some of the largest firms in the country before starting my own business in 1998. I've been in Florida for about 30 years. I actually moved down to join a guy I grew up with in Ohio. We both went to Ohio State, were fraternity brothers, worked together a couple of years, then I broke out on my own. My firm is Gregory John Burke Architect in St. Augustine. We've been here about four years, but I've been in the industry since age 18 under an architectural engineer. I have two degrees in architecture, worked full-time or part-time all through school. I've done everything from porch additions to high-rise buildings, but I've settled on housing and have been in and out of housing since 1979.

Quinton Comino (05:01): Mm-hmm.

Greg Burke, FAIA (05:13): After graduation, I lived with a college classmate in German Village in Columbus. It was built at the turn of the 20th century for German immigrants who started the brewing industry. It was a walkable community—close to restaurants, bars, dry cleaners. I walked to work every day, 15 minutes. Loved it. I worked with MBBJ, the third-largest firm in the country at the time. We did a cluster housing project, moving five or six Victorian homes onto one site with detached garages. It was kind of a precursor to what we now call missing middle housing. Then I moved to Florida and did a bit of everything—churches, office buildings, a lot of single-family homes. Recently we've been doing townhouse projects and I've really gotten into missing middle, trying to educate folks in St. Johns County about better planning. We have traffic nightmares here.

Quinton Comino (07:09): Mm-hmm.

Greg Burke, FAIA (07:33): Missing middle housing and creating walkable communities is the way to fix it. I'm also trying to get a major change to the building code to move triplex and fourplex dwelling units from commercial code to residential code. That would save developers a lot. I talked to a Jacksonville developer last week and he said it would be huge. Right now, commercial code means sprinklers, higher costs—this change would eliminate that in many cases, saving everywhere from stairs to energy requirements.

Quinton Comino (08:42): Good. You've used this term "missing middle"—tell me more. What is that?

Greg Burke, FAIA (08:55): Missing middle was coined around 2003 by Berkeley architect Dan Parolek. It's everything between single-family homes and mid-rise apartments. Think duplexes, triplexes, quads, row houses, courtyard housing, live/work spaces, ADUs. It's what used to be common but zoning wiped out over the last 60–80 years.

Quinton Comino (09:31): Mm-hmm. Okay.

Greg Burke, FAIA (09:58): The zoning most of America uses started around 1940 in Euclid, Ohio. It was designed to keep dirty industry away from homes because of smog and health issues. Now we're looking at form-based zoning, which focuses on what buildings look like and how they fit into scale rather than use. Cities like Cincinnati have switched to it. It offers more flexibility for walkable communities, but we still need zoning changes even if we get the building code changes.

Quinton Comino (11:19): Form-based zoning—tell me more about how that works.

Greg Burke, FAIA (11:41): It allows businesses and residences to mix. Historically, you'd have shops on the ground floor, people living above. Form-based zoning emphasizes the form, not use. It has scales—from rural to high-rise. The street is the most important part—how buildings relate to it, pedestrian safety, bikes, transit. It adds flexibility that traditional zoning doesn't have.

Quinton Comino (12:46): How do you get involved with zoning as an architect?

Greg Burke, FAIA (13:01): I'm also an urban designer. I attend County Commission meetings, speak at Planning and Zoning Boards. I'm part of the Northeast Florida Builders Association, the fourth-largest in the country. I've talked to them about form-based code, missing middle housing, and something called pattern zoning—pre-approved building plans smaller developers can buy cheaply. It started in Texas near universities and is spreading.

Quinton Comino (14:29): Are there cities without any zoning?

Greg Burke, FAIA (14:40): Houston has no zoning. I lived there five years. It’s an odd mix. You might have a high-rise casting a shadow on a single-family home. But they're trying to manage scale better now, much like form-based code would.

Quinton Comino (15:51): What's better—no zoning, strict zoning, light zoning?

Greg Burke, FAIA (16:21): I think Houston is the exception. They've had to build three beltways to manage traffic. When I lived there, it was 11 miles to downtown but could take 1.5 hours. I’d like to see Euclidean zoning replaced with form-based code. Current suburban PUDs lead to sprawl, clog roads, and create expensive housing.

Quinton Comino (18:26): Sprawl exacerbates traffic?

Greg Burke, FAIA (19:11): Exactly. In St. Augustine, service workers can’t afford to live here. We have 45,000 trips in and out daily. Sprawl makes people drive everywhere. Walkable communities don’t remove cars—they just mean you don't have to use them all the time.

Quinton Comino (19:46): You used the term sprawl—can you define it and describe the ideal form-based layout?

Greg Burke, FAIA (20:05): Sprawl is suburbs where everyone drives everywhere. It’s unhealthy, stressful, unsafe. Form-based codes allow businesses and homes to mix so people can walk or have shorter drives. Streets support pedestrians, bikes, and transit.

Quinton Comino (21:39): Form-based would allow businesses in communities that sprawl zoning wouldn’t?

Greg Burke, FAIA (21:47): Right. In German Village, people walked to work. Offices were in converted garages. Small businesses can thrive in these communities without needing giant industrial space.

Quinton Comino (22:35): We’ve faced zoning headaches even for mobile home displays. Indiana's very different. What's your take on Florida zoning compared to Ohio and Houston?

Greg Burke, FAIA (23:42): Florida has a lot of NIMBYism—"not in my backyard." People move here for small-town vibes, then want to block growth. But locals usually don’t oppose growth—they want better planning. State law requires communities to have a comprehensive plan, and any changes need to be updated in the development code within a year. We're trying to incorporate missing middle ideas into our plan.

Quinton Comino (27:33): So the challenge is balancing growth with resistance?

Greg Burke, FAIA (27:53): Exactly. Urban Land Institute says there are three types of people: those who oppose everything, those who like it but critique, and those who don’t care. The ideal is that everyone walks away a little unhappy—it’s compromise. Density isn’t bad—bad execution is.

Quinton Comino (28:56): Examples of good and bad density?

Greg Burke, FAIA (29:27): Bad density is suburban sprawl at two or three units per acre. Good density is places like Seaside or Celebration—14–20 units per acre, walkable, charming. Americans love European cities like Florence because of walkability and density but resist living that way here.

Quinton Comino (31:29): We see resistance too. Protests without much basis.

Greg Burke, FAIA (32:04): That’s common. It’s hard for commissioners balancing community benefit and vocal opposition. A handful of regular protesters can stall good projects. We’re trying to introduce attainable housing here to reduce commuter burden.

Quinton Comino (33:03): What do you enjoy most—architecture, zoning advocacy?

Greg Burke, FAIA (33:23): I love design at any scale. I’m working on a triplex with one-, two-, and three-bedroom units to show flexibility. I want to demonstrate how it can be affordable or premium depending on finishes. I also enjoy advocating for better planning. I'm vice-chairman of the state board of architecture and do expert witness work too. The variety keeps it fun.

Quinton Comino (35:27): That's fantastic. You have a real focus on attainable housing.

Greg Burke, FAIA (36:18): Yes, I prefer "attainable" over "affordable." Attainable means it’s within reach for people. Affordable is subjective and can be politicized.

Quinton Comino (36:28): We’re working on a modular concept—Mod Pod—like a core with plumbing, electric, HVAC pre-installed. Reduces costs on site. Thoughts?

Greg Burke, FAIA (39:02): I’ve seen similar ideas. A California firm tried 3D-printed houses with a central module. It worked well. I think that’s the future, especially for affordable housing. You’re getting in early and that’s smart.

Quinton Comino (40:34): That’s our goal. We think it’s the future of housing.

Greg Burke, FAIA (41:07): It attracts all types. But modular can be tricky—quality varies. Costs used to be lower but have risen over 10–15 years.

Quinton Comino (41:47): For sure. Well, Greg, thank you. I learned so much—sprawl, missing middle, zoning terms. Maybe we can do this again.

Greg Burke, FAIA (41:58): Glad to be here. Good conversation. Sure, happy to join again.

Quinton Comino (42:23): Thank you, Greg. Take care.

Greg Burke, FAIA (42:25): You too. Bye bye.