OP-ED: BUT, WHO IS MY NEIGHBOUR?

We have been inundated with the “Housing Crisis” for about six months now since it became a thing on our prime minister’s radar.

The crisis itself has been around a lot longer than that but hadn’t really blown up into a recognizable thing until the last year or so.

What interests me are two primary features; firstly, the nature of the topic itself and secondly, the level of public participation that has resulted across the country.

Work has been going on in both Canada and the U.S. for some time relative to amending land use bylaws (LUBs), including in our own city. All of this is ostensibly about creating more affordable housing. In simple terms, if you increase density (fourplexes, townhouses and apartments) it makes for more affordable housing as compared to single-family units. You go up instead of out.

The trend to end exclusive singlefamily zoning has already come to most major Canadian cities. Minneapolis ended it in 2020 and the city’s housing stock has since grown by 12 per cent.1

For many, including myself, there was little appreciation or understanding about what the changes were and the underlying drivers. A careful reading of the Housing Needs Assessment, recently tabled at city council, shows a significant level of baseline data input is derived from Canadian Mortgage and Housing definitions and data.

When that is added to Trudeau’s talk about “better zoning” such as four units on a patch of land without having to go through a messy public hearing, you begin to see where the public concern comes from.

For example, Trudeau’s housing czar Sean Fraser made it clear that if Calgary wanted federal funding it must legalize such housing as fourunit multi-plexes citywide. The city must “end exclusionary zoning.”

If the city played ball it stood to see $228 million out of the deal.2

Except, first Calgary would hold public hearings to listen to what people had to say, and that’s where things got messy with up to 650 speakers.

The public debate has been passionate and divided along generational lines. Proponents, often younger people, believe that more densification and variety are necessary to give younger people a chance to buy into affordable housing. Oppone nts, generally older, established folks, want to retain the status quo fearing loss of value, loss of community character, parking problems and the like.

Indeed, about a year ago our own council saw the largest attended public hearing in recent memory with a wide range of speakers and perspectives regarding homelessness, housing and the proposed LUB. This is a complex and challenging debate that is not going to go away soon.

- Darrell Dunn

Citations: 1. Braid, Don, “No matter how much they talk, single-family zoning will end in Calgary”, Calgary Herald, April 27, 2024. 2. Bell, Rick, “Trudeau-Gondek blanket rezoning sure feels like a done deal”, Calgary Herald, April 12, 2024.