From faster approvals to hiring more workers, governments need to step up: experts

Peter Armstrong · CBC News

    • BlameThePeacock@lemmy.ca
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      1 year ago

      And yet Tokyo and New York are some of the most expensive places to live per square foot.

      Density isn’t a solution to anything but allowing more people to live in a specific location.

      We have enough space in BC to not need to live in shoe boxes.

      • SkepticalButOpenMinded@lemmy.ca
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        1 year ago

        That is absolutely not true. Tokyo famously has some of the most affordable real estate of any major world city. You can buy a spacious detached home in the Tokyo area for less than in Hamilton, ON. Despite the stereotype, Japanese homes are bigger than the average in most European countries.

        Montreal has had the most affordable housing of the big Canadian cities. Why? Because they have the least land restricted to single family homes. Check out this zoning map. Even now, Montreal has three times the housing starts of Vancouver.

        The reason why we build shoeboxes is because we preserve single family home zoning. Super high density towers, or super low density suburbs, the two most expensive forms of housing with nothing in between. To tackle affordability, we need missing middle housing. And I totally disagree about using up space: suburban sprawl sucks. I want to live in charming medium density!

        • BlameThePeacock@lemmy.ca
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          1 year ago

          Tokyo has affordable units, but not per square foot which is what I said. The average family lives in less than 200 square foot per person. Half the Canadian population wouldn’t even fit in a Japanese sized bathroom because they’re too fat. The unit sizes is so small even our micro apartments here look massive.

          A detached single family home in tokyo is often less than 700 square feet on 400 square feet of land. This level of density simply isn’t necessary in Canada, and we shouldn’t be using it as a model of affordability.

          The reason Montreal is cheap is because its French and nobody wants to live there. Very little growth.

          • SkepticalButOpenMinded@lemmy.ca
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            1 year ago

            I honestly don’t know where you’re getting your information from. Homes in Tokyo are famously very affordable, and units are bigger than in comparable cities like New York or Paris. This is very well known in the urban planning community, so it goes to show you’re new at this topic and making things up.

            Montreal has had a growing population for years. The Francophonie is huge and Montreal is a popular destination. Your anti-French bigotry is showing. Last time they had a speculation bubble in the early 2000s, they quickly built more affordable medium density supply and the bubble receded.