Fourplexes are a complicated niche that could provide some housing relief

Not that long ago, “fourplex” was a relatively rare term, popping up mainly in news stories about movie theatres or various disasters befalling people who happened to live in this older form of housing left over from the early 20th century.

But last year, the word appeared in 200 stories in the country’s approximately 40 largest newspapers and many hundreds of times more in radio, TV and social media. The big bump came as politicians at all levels, spurred on by vocal pro-housing groups in many cities, started to push the idea of allowing four homes on every residential lot as one way of grappling with the country’s startlingly awful housing crisis.