Its not a terrible article. It just misses the wider point about location. I mean, if there are any slums in the making, ultimately, it will have more to do with location than it does about unit size or any other metric. The problem with alot of these real estate commentaries is that they over-think it and tend to ignore the fundamentals. These towers keep going up because there is ultimately a demand, after all. Obvioulsy, renters and investors are still buying due to location and the price is low enough that they see an investment. You cant underestimate people's demand. I mean, people will pay a premium for shoeboxes in SOHO vs. Lower East Side in Manhattan due to location. Thats not Toronto but city-living is still considered more desirable to most. In Manhattan, they want to be in SOHO because that's the place to be. In Toronto, maybe its Yorkville and King West these days or close to Bay St. The better question is: Is that interest going to change? Becuase if it doesnt change, prices in that neighborhood will continue to rise. People will pay high prices for awkwardly designed condos because of location/demand.
Cityplace is kind of used as the example in the article (per usual) but despite all the negative press, Cityplace is located close to King West, the waterfront and major Toronto landmarks like CN Tower and Rogers Centre. I mean, In most cities, being next to those major landmarks, being on the skyline, next to vibrant neighborhoods, a few blocks from Ritz Carlton and next to the waterfront is not really a predictor of slum property.
And there is also a relevant point being made here, that there, perhaps, isnt a high demand for large condos in the city. Not everyone is having families these days. There is a lot more single people in this generation vs. the baby-boomers. Plus from what Ive read, the movement for wealthy successful folks seems to lean towards city rather than suburban areas.
It will interesting to see what will be happen. But like a lot of these article, I just have trouble believing their predictions based on common-sense of understanding how cities Ive lived in tend to value real estate. Toronto is a great safe city. "Real" American-style slums anywhere in Toronto seems unlikely.