The latest newsletter from AARP Livable Communities is all about Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs), which provide more options for housing and potential solutions for Age-Friendly Communities looking to address the “housing” domain.

Here is a list of the resources on ADUs shared by AARP and a Massachusetts-based resource from the Massachusetts Municipal Association.

The ABCs of ADUs is a primer for elected officials, policymakers, local leaders, homeowners, consumers and others to learn what accessory dwelling units are and how and why they are built. The guide also suggests best practices for how towns, cities, counties and states can include ADUs in their mix of housing options.

AARP’s Accessory Dwelling Unit Webinar offers a snapshot of the current ADU landscape across the U.S. and share best practices and lessons-learned from cities and states that have taken recent steps to make this housing type more broadly available.

Presenters Eli Spevak, of Orange Splot, and Kol Peterson, of Accessory Dwelling Strategies, are ADU builders, advocates and cofounders of AccessoryDwellings.org. Elizabeth Decker of JET Planning is a land use planning consultant whose expertise is centered around creating, applying and interpreting development regulations.

Updating ADU Bylaws is an article intended for cities and towns that comes from the Massachusetts Municipal Association’s 2019 Best Practice Series publication (see pages 9 and 10). A link to a webinar and toolkit are available through via the Metropolitan Area Planning Council and the state’s Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs.

The ADU Odessy Blog features ADU consultant and educator Kol Peterson (also a presenter on the AARP webinar) chronicling the entire process of financing, developing, designing and building an ADU.

The American Planning Association has a wealth of educational resources relative to ADUs. Their KnowledgeBase guide on the subject also includes interesting case studies that could ultimately help Age-Friendly Communities advocate for ADU bylaw updates in their city or town.