It’s bound to get a fair bit denser around here in the years ahead.
For many, many decades, Canadian communities were largely built one single-family neighbourhood after another because land was plentiful, housing was affordable and families were bigger. Much has changed in recent times, particularly the part about housing being affordable, which has prompted the need to create smaller, less expensive units everywhere, not just in big cities.
This change to the status quo can be upsetting to many people, evidenced by the parade of speakers at a marathon public hearing in Calgary recently over the plan to allow denser infill redevelopment in the city. Okotoks approved a similar bylaw three years ago, but given most of the housing stock in town is not at an age to make it suitable for redevelopment, little has happened on that front.
However, the policy that deviates from the notion that single-family should be the default housing choice will be liberally applied to new developments around here, which will help create more affordable options moving forward.
Those units can’t come soon enough for many considering where house prices are going. According to figures from the Calgary Real Estate Board, after four straight months in which prices set a record, the benchmark price of a detached house in Okotoks is now just about $700,000.
Given today’s interest rates, coupled with escalating property taxes and utility bills, it would take a household income approaching $200,000 to qualify for a mortgage for such a home. And we’re talking about an average house in the suburbs.
With prices only going upward, more and more people will find home ownership out of reach unless lower cost options make it onto the market. Once considered a dirty word, density could well prove to be invaluable in addressing this country’s housing crisis.
