And the feds are doing that. Some of those will be felt quickly, some over longer. Quoting this so it doesn't take up much as much space for people that aren't interested. Sure you can complain and say that all the of the reversals below are the result of policies they put in place, but few were...

It is about changing the trajectory in a small (not really that small, still a projected 5% growth in unit production from the status quo path) way, that helps a fair amount over time. The only way to begin is by beginning. There is no one thing that will suddenly solve housing affordability...

Would have to look at a service map but Westbrook may already be serviced (and taxpayers paid for those services). Anderson was judged to require $35 million to build out services out front. Not looking at relative size either. Just that realizeable values can he highly variable and not...

Didn’t we have a visit from Jarret Walker & Associates? What ever happened to that?

While a net positive to be sure I wouldn’t count on big gains. More like a few LRVs not a couple new LRT stations. I’d prefer they be leveraged for high-ish density co-ops or low rent schemes personally, as the city for whatever reason has a harder time using money for such things than...

The capital and labour allocation will be different, as it will change how much profit may be available per a given project. Instead of a 3600 square foot 1-1 replacement being the most profitable rebuild, a duplex with garage units could be the most profitable (and also less risky, with lower...

This answer was not the whole truth. The city has money in hand today (1/4 of the total), and it wouldn't be clawed back. It is unlikely the entire remaining fund would be held back, but a good portion would be at risk.

Long post (sorry), and my conclusion is yes. From the City: In the contribution agreement, it includes: ... ... ... ... ... ... The HAF Action Plan approved by Council, provides more detail:

Provisioning for pipelines and electricity at 1980s standards made the width make sense.

There are active proposals on that stretch. It is a lot cheaper to build wood based walk ups. The land is cheaper. The structure is cheaper. You don’t need elevators or circulation space. You don’t need circulation space for cars or structured parking. You can get a lot more square footage for...

Depends what you think of as significant. It certainly cannot hurt. And has helped where it has been implemented.

Seems to have been very enforceable in parts of Elbow Park and Mount Royal, in cases I have knowledge of.

I think for some questions they can be good, when there is a discreet project that there is a true binary. Like "put in place this tax to do this. If not approved, we will not try to do this in another way without this tax". I am very supportive of that, for local projects with local benefits...

Not exactly. Requires a court process with low odds of success on the developer's part. Depends on how it was written of course. Not all are created equal.

I would say people aren't entirely knowledgeable about the power of restrictive covenants. Even owner groups I've engaged with (Mount Royal mostly) which were covered by a covenant did not understand the full extent of their power, and that it was up to them to enforce the private legal...

I would say that a lot of people when asked to make a binary choice will make the status quo choice, as contextualizing the entire development system and the economics of housing is not something we should expect, nor ask, individuals to optimize for the best outcome. This does not equate to...

Plebiscites aren't great. This argument is bogus. People would vote for no carbon taxes, yet would vote for strict environmental targets, and against environmental regulations. People would vote for lower taxes without the context of service cuts, would vote for service increases without the...

Aside: We're (eventually) getting bypass roads!

Does this help answer that?

The cost savings are long term with lower service growth, not reducing costs today, as the city is still growing. The planning cost savings are costs not paid by taxes, but are instead costs paid by people who buy new units. Any attempt to quantify that dollar savings on services (possible)...