[URBAN NOTE] "The Case for Diversifying Development"

[rfmcdonald]

At Torontoist, Chris Spoke makes a compelling argument for densification in lower-density neighbourhods. This makes perfect sense to me: A diverse city needs diverse housing.

Though Toronto continues to add housing at a rapid pace compared to many of its counterparts, it might not surprise you that new development is largely concentrated in the form of high-rise condominiums.

Our downtown in particular has seen a remarkable transformation as new housing and new residents have brought new life to districts that were once desolate and boring.

However, we haven’t seen as much of a change in lower-density neighbourhoods, where new low-rise housing completions have declined from 32,000 in 2001 to 12,000 last year. As a result, the average price for a detached home now stands at $1.2 million, up over 18 per cent from last year alone.

This has led to a lot of discussion among city builders about the “missing middle” of infill townhouse, stacked townhouse, and mid-rise development that could provide Toronto with so-called gentle density and added stock of family-oriented housing.

Many point to City Hall generally and City Planning in particular for impeding this form of development while scolding condo developers for not including a sufficient amount of three-bedroom “family-sized” units in their high-rise projects.

Just last week, the City of Toronto refused an application [PDF] by a local developer to build six three-storey townhouses and one detached home in a North York neighbourhood, arguing that the built form would not be appropriate for the site.

In a rapidly growing, dynamic city like Toronto, decisions like this one are ridiculous, and they’re pricing young families out of the market.