Cities

In my last post, I discussed why cities need density. Now, thoughts on the how of densification, Part 1. Leave My Neighbourhood Alone Dear NIMBY – nobody’s single-family neighbourhood will change tomorrow. Neither your house nor your neighbour’s will be demolished overnight.  And, if you choose to demolish, nobody will take away your right to […]

This has to be the next logical topic. So, why go from favouring single-family housing to zoning for densification? Next instalment – some suggestions for the how. And later, I will tackle land use and buildable area. The Why I have touched on the various reasons in my last post. Also, I wrote about the […]

I had ambitions of tackling densification, zoning, and land use all in one post. Indeed, that was ambitious. So for now, I will tackle the problems of the single-family home fixation. City Zoning Favours Single-Family Housing Toronto’s yellow-belt covers 75% of its land area. Until quite recently, the yellow-belt restricted development to detached and semi-detached […]

Canadian governments have to stop pouring money into the dream of the white picket fence and purchaser incentives. Demand is not the problem. Collectively, the focus has to be on increasing housing supply. Solve the supply problem – solve the affordability problem. Some Statistics So What to do? Based on current housing production, home shortages […]

Canada’s de facto ruling coalition is delivering a political Christmas gift of $342.65. The math: Isn’t Inflation the Problem? And this to help Canadians deal with the cost of living. So the world has struggled with inflation for the last few years and finally seemed to be getting it under control, at least in Canada. […]

I have been trying to figure out how a 5% sales tax rebate makes homes more affordable. I haven’t been able to because it just doesn’t work. Homes sell at a market price. If that market price is $1.0 million dollars, the only party to benefit from the $50,000 rebate will be the seller because […]

North America has a single-family house fixation – an abusive use of land needed for agriculture and nature. The resulting urban sprawl requires extended road, sewer, water, and utilities infrastructure. The outcome –  more land cost and infrastructure cost per housing unit equals less upfront affordability. And, extended infrastructure networks saddle communities with additional municipal […]

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.

Co-working space came to mean the notorious We Work model. When I have been asked to opine on co-working I have tried to steer the conversation away from the Adam Neumann / Softbank  flimflam growth model. Instead, I suggested that property owners look at usage and users. While I doubted We Work’s ability to survive […]

Before I fall completely into the trap of opposition politics, I have decided to take a break from never-ending criticism and to start suggesting solutions to the affordable housing conundrum. Do I have a plan? No! More a collection of ideas. To start with, I think there are three key issues: Home ownership is not […]