The definitive but crazy guide to creating more affordable housing

Okay, so maybe this isn't an entirely definitive guide. But the intent is to make this post a kind of working post. As new ideas emerge (from my end or from your ends), I will endeavor to update it, so that maybe one day it will become a bit more definitive. I also think it's important to keep it a little crazy. Because housing affordability is clearly a tough problem to solve, so unless we start thinking differently and acting boldly, we may not get there.

Here goes.

• Encourage new housing at all scales (low, mid, high)

• "Upzone" all major streets and transit station areas

• Allow multi-unit dwellings in low-rise neighborhoods and ensure that any applicable codes and/or policies are not creating unnecessary obstacles to building at this scale

• Work to make the largest possible housing scale permissible on an as-of-right basis -- that is, remove the rezoning process wherever possible and allow builders to go right to a building permit (a lengthy rezoning process can cost millions)

• Avoid the use of inclusionary zoning policies that do not provide an equal offset or subsidy (such as a density bonus)

• Ensure that any development charges and levies are commensurate with the burdens created by new housing and that existing property owners are funding their fair share through property taxes

• Identify the areas that are NOT seeing new housing and then create incentives to make development feasible

• Search for underutilized land and other opportunities to add new housing -- no land parcel should be considered too small

• Incentivize small-scale prototypes as a way to test out new ideas and foster innovation -- specifically with respect to climate change and construction productivity

• Eliminate all parking minimums - no ifs, ands, or buts

• Depoliticize the planning process as much as possible -- local politicians are not generally incentivized to encourage new housing

• Eliminate the ability for individuals to block or significantly delay new housing

• Ensure that there are enough staff to expeditiously review and process development and building permit applications -- if builders are hiring "expediters" in the hopes of moving these things along, it means something is broken

• Put in place strict response and issuance timelines for building permits

• Bonus city staff (and anyone else who touches housing supply) based on the number of housing units approved and permitted each year

• Design smaller and more urban-friendly garbage trucks so that less space is lost in every new housing development

• Reduce/eliminate complex urban design guidelines, such as Toronto's widely used 45-degree angular plane guideline

What is missing from this list? And/or what did I get wrong?

Last updated: July 25, 2022