Brandon Donnelly

4 responses to “The end of the single-family home hegemony”

1. 

   Chris D.

   July 21, 2023

   Edmonton has done the same and will further solidify this with the pending approval of their new zoning bylaw for Jan 1, 2024. Some big policy shifts taking place which are critical to helping alleviate the supply shortage.

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2. 

   john hartley

   July 21, 2023

   Yup we are all heading as a herd straight into 3rd world standards. In this vast country what possible justification is there for DENSIFICATION. It surely is not affordability – which has never benefitted from densification. It is surely not the environment which is scared by humungous cement and glass towers, not to mention gridlock pollution. It certainly is not because there is any shortage of land in a country that is vast and has only 10% of the population of the USA. But never forget that densification is HUGELY profitable.

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3. 

   Bob K

   July 21, 2023

   john, I am not sure that the environment is “scared” by glass and cement towers. There are many environmental benefits to such buildings, over single family homes, including less amount of land taken for housing, and lowered heating costs (one or two walls on the outside only). There are studies showing the carbon costs of single family houses are more than apartments. This seems intuitive to me. Also you claim that affordability has never benefited from gentrification would need some analysis or backup. I am strongly encouraged by the developments in so many cities that will allow for intensification and I hope it continues.

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4. 

   john hartley

   July 25, 2023

   How very sad. In this vast country that we should even contemplate “densifying” in order to build “affordable” housing is atrocious. That other jurisdictions are following this path is illustrative of the sheep nature of planning. The final “built form” that results will be completely at odds with the Official Plan of Toronto – that proclaims that protection of neighborhoods is a fundamental goal. The ad hoc densification without regard to the already overwhelmed infrastructure will cause tragic consequences over time. What is really unfathomable is that in this vast wealthy country we think, as a matter of policy, that we cannot house our populace in the single family dwellings that the population hugely prefers. Instead we are relegating large swaths of population to tiny glass boxes high in the sky. Anyone in planning know full well that zoning “maximums” are quickly converted into minimums and the slew of development and rezoning applications will only add the to burden of our overwhelmed planning department. We all know that densification will never produce affordable housing, in fact it will do the exact opposite. Just as our policies over the last 50 years have done, since the Land Speculation Tax was introduced in 1974 to deal with out of control housing costs.

   Lets be clear – we have a vast country with lots of land. Our existing infrastructure is overwhelmed, building more on top of it just exacerbates that problem. Upgrading infrastructure in an urban environment is incredibly complex and unfathomably expensive. WE have an incredibly productive and efficient construction industry. It is long past time.

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