Urban conversations in North America often seem trapped between competing visions… between detached suburban development, low-scale missing middle housing, and high-rise intensification. An alternative lies in a form of urbanism that has shaped some of the world’s most successful cities for generations. …It is the 3-5 story mixed-use building. I argue that many of the world’s most functional, resilient, and human-scaled urban environments are built upon moderate density and incremental urbanism. …These are the buildings that are rarely celebrated. Yet, they may be the single most important building type in creating or sustaining neighborhoods that are walkable, economically productive, and human-scaled. …At the larger end of the spectrum is the five-story, 40-unit building. Five stories is determined as an upper limit because of the constraint placed by the International Building Code for all-wood construction buildings allowed as-of-right. This allows for simplified construction, again attainable by smaller neighborhood-scale builders and developers.