Zoning Reform Ideas

[rdaner]

Tecumseh, Ontario is the latest and smallest municipality in Ontario to receive a Federal Housing Accelerator Grant from Ottawa. It does the usual like allowing four-plexes but is also amusing since the application for nearby Windsor got rejected as not being progressive enough. Numerous smaller towns are getting interested in zoning reform which is not as many would have guessed a few years ago. I guess that you can build a multiplex in a small town!

 

[rdaner]

Did a quick tally and 57% of Ontario’s population (2021 census) has opted for the zoning reforms outlined in the Housing Accelerator Fund. I think one of the most important features of this is 4 units per lot.

 

[allengeorge]

Did a quick tally and 57% of Ontario’s population (2021 census) has opted for the zoning reforms outlined in the Housing Accelerator Fund. I think one of the most important features of this is 4 units per lot.

Doesn’t the utility of this depend on how many other planning rules impact whether 4 units can actually be built? (For example: setbacks, maximum FSI, etc.?)

 

[jje1000]

Interesting:

Houston, we have a solution - Works in Progress

Houston was notorious for its sprawl. But it has seen a gentle density revolution since the 1990s. Allowing neighborhoods to opt out of citywide reforms was crucial in its transformation.

worksinprogress.co

 

[rdaner]

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

 

[rdaner]

I don’t know why StatsCan didn’t keep data on ADUs but the Ontario government now is and it really affects the numbers!

https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.7122194

 

[rdaner]

Thunder Bay is the latest to get Housing Accelerator funds. Of note is the emphasis on converting unused industrial land to housing as there is a higher % there than average. This would bring the amount of population having 4 units per lot to over 60%.

As an aside I have done a quick peruse of zoning reform in The States for comparison. Although reform is common it is often the most central municipalities doing it with more suburban areas opting out. As well, there seem to be many more exemptions within these cities to increased density such as honouring restrictive covenants in gated communities and more elite neighbourhoods thus reducing % of lots covered further. Now this is based on what is happening around Seattle and Portland and isn’t a full survey.

 

[goodcitywhenfinished]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1763333543726661718

I assume this is going to look at Green P lots along line 1 and 2? I wonder if it is even technically feasible to build anything on the lots directly above the line. Wouldn't this require expensive underpinning and structural reinforcement?

 

[rdaner]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1763333543726661718

I assume this is going to look at Green P lots along line 1 and 2? I wonder if it is even technically feasible to build anything on the lots directly above the line. Wouldn't this require expensive underpinning and structural reinforcement?

Line 1 and 2 plus Shepard, Eglinton and Finch I bet. Also streetcar lines?

 

[rdaner]

I was curious about this and did a quick search of where, how big and how many of these there are. There are about 240 of various sizes, some in underground garages of buildings so untouchable, but many as smaller lots on main streets. I am assuming bus routes count as transit. Some of these lots could support a lot of units!

 

[AlexBozikovic]

My opinion is that a good part of the pre-war downtown residential neighborhoods should be rezoned as mixed-use to allow people to open up businesses on the ground floors and expand from the existing typologies, as was the case until the sanitary regime took over in the post-war era.

Places like Cabbagetown would greatly benefit from an injection of Kensington Market into its urban fabric, IMO.

This is a great idea, and in the long term it will almost inevitably happen. A street of small buildings with mixed uses is a magnet.

Kensington and Yorkville are two of the most vital and economically productive places in the whole city.

Geary Avenue is heading the same way despite being ugly and poorly located.

 

[smably]

Geary Avenue is heading the same way despite being ugly and poorly located.

I agree with all of the above, but I would add that the ugliness and relatively poor location of Geary gave it cheap enough rents to make the interesting mix of businesses there viable. An abundance of mixed-use areas around the city could hopefully have the same effect by better balancing supply and demand for spaces like this.

 

[afransen]

Here's a video checking in on how Edmonton is doing as one of the more progressive jurisdictions in NA on zoning and housing reform.

 

[rdaner]

The Housing Accelerator Fund has finalized its applications and helped create the most comprehensive zoning reform in Canada in decades. I have to say that I am impressed so far as it has avoided the piecemeal approach of other countries and been done in a timely manner.

Ottawa says its housing deals with cities will build 750,000 homes in the next decade

Ottawa says housing accelerator fund will create 750,000 new homes over next decade as 179 housing deals have been signed

www.theglobeandmail.com

 

[allengeorge]

The Housing Accelerator Fund has finalized its applications and helped create the most comprehensive zoning reform in Canada in decades. I have to say that I am impressed so far as it has avoided the piecemeal approach of other countries and been done in a timely manner.

Ottawa says its housing deals with cities will build 750,000 homes in the next decade

Ottawa says housing accelerator fund will create 750,000 new homes over next decade as 179 housing deals have been signed

www.theglobeandmail.com

What I read in the article sounded reasonable. Unfortunately I do not think this country has a stomach for the prescriptions.

And yes - zoning reform is slowly happening, but going full-force to intensification, restricting building in areas prone to climate-risk - I don’t think any (maybe BC?) provinces are really hot on doing that.