@AlexBozikovic has a new column up at the Globe:
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The long and short of it is that he takes his usual tack that the City is too timid and that EHON major streets doesn't go far enough.
Unfortunately, while he has some small bits right (and some of us are trying to fix those)...........( see 30 unit limit, which will actually be 60 today at Council, something he missed); he has more that's wrong.
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Per my usual, if you abolished zoning entirely which seems to be what Alex wants, since it can never be liberal enough for him; you still wouldn't get any more housing than you're getting now, nor would it be more affordable.
There needs to be a clear statement made about the capacity of the industry to build, and about interest rates and population growth and how those are the drivers of the housing crisis, not restrictive zoning. Less restrictive zoning (to a point) makes great sense, I've been an advocate of it for longer than Alex. But you have to understand what it will achieve and will not achieve. It will promote some greater choice in form of housing and location, and tenure; it will not increase affordability or total supply.
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There are also myriad reasons as-of-right 16 storey or 160 storey on every street corner is not remotely desirable. This would create unlivable streetscapes in perpetual darkness with high wind where no plants can survive and where no one would ever want to spend five minutes of their time voluntarily. That in turn would promote driving everywhere, since no one would want to walk or bike through that environment, and with the lack of greenery would promote ecological deteriroration and climate change.
The notion of nuance, some height in some places but not any height, anywhere, seems a step too far for some.
