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Zoning Reform Ideas
- Thread starter A Torontonian Now
- Start date
TRONto
Active Member
I don't think it would be so bad if they automatically upzoned the entire area to a blanket 30m height, no adjustments needed.
There are plenty of buildings much higher than that within that area. There will be many more as developers will make the request for adjustment. Looks like that city would rather spend money at LPAT hearings instead of realistic height limits.
Unless they are doing this to extract concessions from developers.
allengeorge
Senior Member
The Chief Planner is not impressed by the Twitter reaction:
afransen
Senior Member
Discussion on transect urbanism as an alternative to euclidean zoning. Some good discussion in the Q&A in the second half.
afransen
Senior Member
A video on Toronto's restriction on multiple front doors in residential neighbourhoods. This is a pretty good channel that deserves more views & subs.
allengeorge
Senior Member
Northern Light
Superstar
This link is the direct link to their new content:
Our Toronto: Past, Present and Future
Together we’re creating a plan for our shared future. Help us plan for the next 30 years and beyond - from housing, to the economy, to climate change and more. Scroll down to learn more.
storymaps.arcgis.com
After discussing 'hearing from you' there's actually zero opportunity for input at this stage..............that's irksome.
No form, no survey, no nothing.
They invite you sign up to an email list.................
*****
I've skimmed the entire thing..........
My immediate conclusion; the population numbers on which the plan is premised, from the Province are incorrect; at least as much as one can say that about 30 year projections.
A review of annual growth numbers for Toronto over the last several years; combined with Federal moves to boost immigration; and a huge influx of capital ongoing.....suggests to me...
That a growth projection of 700,000 is light.
Even if growth fell off a bit, a mere 30,000 per year (well less than 1/2 current levels of growth) would add 900,000 people.
Its my expectation that near term growth will likely be in the 60,000 per year range for the next decade; after which it may fall a bit..........
But I'm hard pressed to see it going below 45,000 annually in the next 20 years.
That puts us at 1M plus.
Which is a much different number than 700,000.
I'd much rather we slightly over-estimated growth, rather than under estimated it; as we have to catch up on housing, transit and parks, not merely keep up.
allengeorge
Senior Member
Huh. You're totally right. A net increase of 23,000 per year seems very low. I'd have expected it to be at least 30,000 per year on the low end.
I suspect the low numbers are being used as a way to avoid drastic changes and keep the status quo. I wonder if someone should respond with that to the tweet.
EDIT: Interesting - I pulled the numbers for Toronto's population from Wikipedia:
If we look at 2001 - 2016, Toronto's population grew by approximately 16,000 people per year. That's...considerably lower than I expected. I guess the acceleration must have all been in the past 4 years. Maybe Planning TO is expecting that we'll revert to the historical mean (personally, I think the city would be way more vibrant with more people, so I'm biased towards hoping for more growth).
Undead
Senior Member
What happens when we run out of developable sites in the city? There's only so many plazas, parking lots and underused lots to go around... Will that finally become the push we need to relax zoning?
christiesplits
Senior Member
Playing devil's advocate here: How do urbanists reconcile with studies that show that over 80% of Canadians would prefer to live in a single family household? Are "family-size" (1,000 sf) condos really going to appeal to growing families?
https://mustelgroup.com/wp-content/...stel_Sothebys-International-Realty-Canada.pdf (page 9)
https://mustelgroup.com/wp-content/...stel_Sothebys-International-Realty-Canada.pdf (page 9)
Undead
Senior Member
^You can want whatever you want, doesn't mean you'll get it. Most people will just have to deal with it.
Northern Light
Superstar
Important to note............80% of Canadians do not live in the City of Toronto.
The desires of a typical family in Halifax or Saskatoon or even Edmonton aren't overly relevant to Toronto; where more than 50% of residents already live in multi-residential housing.
To be clear some people want, or even arguably need single family home living.
I frankly see no reason that can't continue to be part of the mix; its simply not going to be a material growth segment inside the City proper and less of one than it has been in the past in the outlying burbs.
The 1,000ft2 condo/apartment is going to have to play a larger role.
It may need to evolve further (in size or size/form of terrace/balcony) but it will be the only substantial growth segment in housing in Toronto.
****
Though......I wouldn't mind tearing this entire neighbourhood down........and rebuilding it with 5x the number of SFH.......
By my math we could 'squeeze' at least 600 net new SFH here that would still be quite spacious w/back yards.....
MrGoose
Active Member
We could build a Lawrence Crosstown and put an MSF here at the cost of 4 propertiesImportant to note............80% of Canadians do not live in the City of Toronto.
The desires of a typical family in Halifax or Saskatoon or even Edmonton aren't overly relevant to Toronto; where more than 50% of residents already live in multi-residential housing.
To be clear some people want, or even arguably need single family home living.
I frankly see no reason that can't continue to be part of the mix; its simply not going to be a material growth segment inside the City proper and less of one than it has been in the past in the outlying burbs.
The 1,000ft2 condo/apartment is going to have to play a larger role.
It may need to evolve further (in size or size/form of terrace/balcony) but it will be the only substantial growth segment in housing in Toronto.
****
Though......I wouldn't mind tearing this entire neighbourhood down........and rebuilding it with 5x the number of SFH.......
View attachment 319482
By my math we could 'squeeze' at least 600 net new SFH here that would still be quite spacious w/back yards.....
allengeorge
Senior Member
Also, I feel most people have not experienced anything other than the extremes of SFH or condos. I've had the good fortune of living in triplexes in highly walkable neighbourhoods, lowrise in similar neighbourhoods - as well as both SFH and apartment buildings. There are advantages - and disadvantages - to all.
Towered
Senior Member
Important to note............80% of Canadians do not live in the City of Toronto.
The desires of a typical family in Halifax or Saskatoon or even Edmonton aren't overly relevant to Toronto; where more than 50% of residents already live in multi-residential housing.
To be clear some people want, or even arguably need single family home living.
I frankly see no reason that can't continue to be part of the mix; its simply not going to be a material growth segment inside the City proper and less of one than it has been in the past in the outlying burbs.
The 1,000ft2 condo/apartment is going to have to play a larger role.
It may need to evolve further (in size or size/form of terrace/balcony) but it will be the only substantial growth segment in housing in Toronto.
****
Though......I wouldn't mind tearing this entire neighbourhood down........and rebuilding it with 5x the number of SFH.......
View attachment 319482
By my math we could 'squeeze' at least 600 net new SFH here that would still be quite spacious w/back yards.....
Ha! That will never, ever happen...