Expected population bump has city consider new housing developments
Despite goals of hitting climate targets and building up instead of out, the city is considering approving five new communities as it expects another 88,000 people to move here by 2026.
The infrastructure and planning committee is meeting this week to review a comprehensive development plan that also includes the new developments.
Committee chair Gian-Carlo Carra, a long time advocate for increased housing density, said there are no easy decisions to accommodate the sudden burst of growth.
"It would have been nice if we could have basically said, if you want to build in the edge of our city, pay for it yourself,'" Carra said. "But we know there is no way to unlock growth either in the inner city or on the edge of the city without public investment."
Committee chair Gian-Carlo Carra, a long time advocate for increased housing density, says there are no easy decisions to accommodate the sudden burst of growth.
The city's portion of the investment includes roads, sewer lines and land for emergency services buildings totaling $530 million over the next four years. That money includes 39 other communities that have already been approved.
"The most environmentally sensible thing to do is to say we're not going to grow any more on the edge of the city," Carra says. "We couldn't - unfortunately - right now accommodate all the growth that's coming into the city right now in the established areas."
The city is trying to maintain its affordability advantage, both nationally but also against surrounding communities such as Airdrie, Chestermere and Cochrane. But Carra said that approach also comes with a cost to taxpayers.
"For decades and decades we basically took our tax base and we subsidized growth on the edge of the city. And when we did the math we realized we had been subsidizing every unit by $5,000 to $20,000," Carra said.
Calgary is considering approving five new communities as it expects another 88,000 people to move here by 2026.
A total of 19 business cases were presented to the committee over the past year, each representing a new community backed by a developer. Just five are recommended for approval with another three being flagged for possible consideration.
"We need to step back and remember the plan that was brought before council today was a comprehensive growth strategy for industrial, established areas and new communities," said Brian Hahn, CEO BLD Calgary Region, pointing to the affordability issue.
"The metropolitan region is amongst the best in Canada, but there can be no mistaking there are pressures on that affordability, so it will be important to maintain supply as we go forward," said Hahn.
But that's a narrow view of affordability argues Noel Keough, a retired planning professor with U of C and co-founder of Sustainable Calgary Society. He said it doesn't factor in increased fuel costs to and from home, or the pressures to own more vehicles to accommodate everyone in a household.
He also said there is a danger in allowing the market to determine exactly where housing will be built.
"Because we said 'let the market decide what happens in downtown Calgary, we now have 30 per cent vacancy," Keough said. "Colossal market failure. The market decided that we needed all that space.
"We will have the same situation on the edge of Calgary if we just say 'defer to the market.," he said.
"The market is saying 'we need housing." It's not saying where we need housing. We can very well put that housing in established neighbourhoods if we put the resources and the energy and the budget [. . .] to that objective."
There were 85 people registered to present to the planning committee Monday, with meetings expected to last at least until Tuesday.
Even if the plan is approved, money to pay for it will still need to pass council's budget deliberations in November.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
BREAKING Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter banned from NBA
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter has been handed a lifetime ban from The National Basketball Association (NBA) following an investigation which found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, the league says.
WATCH LIVE As GC Strategies partner is admonished by MPs, RCMP confirms search warrant executed
The RCMP confirmed Wednesday it had executed a search warrant at an address registered to GC Strategies. This development comes as MPs are enacting an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power, summoning one of its contractors to appear before the House of Commons to be admonished publicly for failing to answer questions related to the ArriveCan app.
Disappointment widespread over budget's proposed $200-month disability benefit funding
Advocacy groups across Canada are expressing widespread disappointment about the amount of funding earmarked in the 2024 federal budget for the long-awaited Canada Disability Benefit.
Earthquake jolts southern Japan
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.4 hit southern Japan late on Wednesday, said the Japan Meteorological Agency, without issuing a tsunami warning.
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
Ancient skeletons unearthed in France reveal Mafia-style killings
More than 5,500 years ago, two women were tied up and probably buried alive in a ritual sacrifice, using a form of torture associated today with the Italian Mafia, according to an analysis of skeletons discovered at an archeological site in southwest France.
Paul McCartney and John Lennon’s sons have released a single together
A new Lennon and McCartney collaboration is the last thing anybody expected.