Canadian Cities: population living in tall buildings (5 storey+)

[trueviking]

i thought this was interesting....

population of each canadian city living in buildings of 5 storeys or higher (2005):

toronto: 982 705 - 21%
ottawa-gatineau: 112 470 - 11%
hamilton: 74 010 - 11%
london: 45 545 - 10%
winnipeg: 51 280 - 8%
vancouver: 147 675 - 8%
kitchener: 29 625 - 7%
montreal: 195 005 - 6%
halifax: 20 365 - 6%
quebec: 25 245 - 4%
calgary: 36 300 - 4%
edmonton: 33 225 - 4%
victoria: 9 485 - 3%
saskatoon: 6 295 - 3%
regina: 4 795 - 3%


source:
http://www40.statcan.ca/l01/cst01/famil55i.htm

[1ajs]

intresting winnipeg is beating vancouver on the list statisticaly lol

[Only The Lonely..]

Good for The Peg.

[squeezied]

wow congrats to ottawa-gatineau, hamilton, london, and winnipeg!! i would've never guessed u guys made it up there!

[eemy]

I'm not too surprised by Ottawa and Hamilton. They both have a lot of residential high rise buildings. I am quite a bit surprised that Vancouver doesn't have a higher proportion of residents in tall buildings though. I guess their predominance ends when you leave downtown?

[Nouvellecosse]

Would've thought Hfx would be higher, but I guess 6% isn't too shabby. Still higher than Calgary or Edmonton...

Btw, I'm not sure how accurate this is, since the population numbers (and potentially the percentages) are pretty old.

[MonkeyRonin]

....

[softee]

North Bay has approximately 2000 people living in buildings with 5+ storeys, which is just under 4%.

[alps]

Those numbers are a bit old, Halifax's population only adds up to 339,000 there. I guess 6% isn't too bad, but it's not especially good either :D. I think we'd be a little bit higher these days with the new development around Clayton Park and on the peninsula.

[habsfan]

i'd like to see a similar study for % of people living in 3 story buildings!?

[ambiguoustraveller]

hmm i swear i read some statistics just the other day that put Vancouver into a 20% range for that issue....I will try to find it.

[ambiguoustraveller]

I couldn't find the link, but I did find this...it compares a neighbourhood in Vancouver to the rest of the city, thus revealing the statistics.

This following article states that 34% of the Vancouver housing stock is less than 5 story apartments.

And the chart that accompanies it states that 56% of Vancouverites live in apartments...Therefore does that not mean that 22% of Vancouverites live in 5+ story apartments?


http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d128/ambiguoustraveller/statistics.jpg

Housing Profile
Structural Mix

64% of all Hastings-North dwelling units are apartments, while only 4% are semi-detached and 32% are detached housing. Figure 11 illustrates. The dominant dwelling type in the Hastings-North area is apartments less than five stories. Hastings-North has a greater percentage (41%) of this type of housing as compared with the Vancouver average (34%); however, it has slightly less than the GVRD average (43%). Many large, formerly single-family homes have been converted to multiple apartments.

Densification in the Hastings-North catchment area is expected to continue. New residential 4-storey residential developments with commercial ground floor units are occurring along Hastings. In addition, some conversion from single-family detached housing to attached and apartments is taking place north of Hastings between Nanaimo and Semlin where RM-3A zoning exists. For example, 2000 Franklin (formerly 2010 and 2018) is under development as a 10-unit townhouse complex.

Current market conditions and predictions for the foreseeable future indicate that this form of redevelopment likely will continue to take palace for several more years.

[MonkeyRonin]

And the chart that accompanies it states that 56% of Vancouverites live in apartments...Therefore does that not mean that 22% of Vancouverites live in 5+ story apartments?


These stats are based on CMAs, so yes, I could easily see the majority of Vancouver living in 5+ storey buildings.

[Doady]

Obviously, the numbers in first post are for whole CMAs, not just the cities.

[Wooster]

Toronto's number is extremely high. Although not surprising - there seems to be an infinite sea of commie blocks scattered all over the GTA.

[Andy6]

Yes. It's nothing to brag about, although at SSP if you did a thread on the number of cockroaches in each CMA (or, say, the number of murders), the people from the town with the most would be proudly trumpeting the fact.

[trueviking]

winnipeg has a crazy amount of suburban commie blocks....i only recently came to the realization that not every city does....i always just thought it was normal.

http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/3673/apjn3.jpg

[Only The Lonely..]

I like a lot of those suburban high-rise clusters, even if they were designed with the proletariat in mind. I know I’m quite fond of the mini Minsk at the end of my street.

[LordMandeep]

Mississauga and Brampton have a ton of high rises especially Mississauga along its city limits along Toronto. Burlington has many south of the QEW. Brampton has many near its main shopping center. Also expect that number to grow fast.

[trueviking]

i bet most cities in the country will have their number increase over the next few years....seems to be a trend.

winnipeg will likely move up between half and one percent in the next year, as there are more than 15 buildings (most between 7-10 storeys) either under construction or scheduled for a spring start.

[LordMandeep]

Toronto will likely top a million very soon... and 40-45% of all population growth will likely come from High rise development.

[raggedy13]

According to those numbers and percentages in the first post, Greater Vancouver only has 1,846k people. Where are the other 400k at?

[renthefinn]

Victoria would be higher, but most apartments and condos are limited to 4-storeys!

[MonkeyRonin]

Toronto will likely top a million very soon... and 40-45% of all population growth will likely come from High rise development.

Considering how old the population figures are here, and how much the city and highrises have grown, it already has.

[DrJoe]

These numbers are pretty damn low. I imagine Cobourg would be around 5%. I have no idea really.

[miketoronto]

Interesting stats.

I wonder why apartment living even in smaller Canadian centres is still higher then comparable places in the USA?

Wonder why Canadian imbrace apartment/condo living more.

[squeezied]

american dream=automobiles=suburbian lifestyle

???

[Boris2k7]

While we haven't fully embraced the American Dream, we certainly aren't Europe. We're somewhere between the two.

[trueviking]

According to those numbers and percentages in the first post, Greater Vancouver only has 1,846k people. Where are the other 400k at?

yeah, i was wondering that too....all the cities seem a bit short....this is what it lists as the communities included in vancouver's numbers....total population 'living in households' was 1,963,645...maybe the rest are homeless. :)

Vancouver [Census Metropolitan Area]
Langley District municipality
Langley City
Surrey City
White Rock City
Delta District municipality
Richmond City
Greater Vancouver A Regional district electoral area
Vancouver City
Burnaby City
New Westminster City
Coquitlam City
Belcarra Village
Anmore Village
Port Coquitlam City
Port Moody City
North Vancouver District municipality
North Vancouver City
West Vancouver District municipality
Bowen Island Island municipality
Lions Bay Village
Pitt Meadows District municipality
Maple Ridge District municipality
Semiahmoo Indian reserve
Tsawwassen Indian reserve
Musqueam 2 Indian reserve
Coquitlam 2 Indian reserve
Coquitlam 1 Indian reserve
Burrard Inlet 3 Indian reserve
Mission 1 Indian reserve
Capilano 5 Indian reserve
Barnston Island 3 Indian reserve
Musqueam 4 Indian reserve
Seymour Creek 2 Indian reserve
Katzie 2 Indian reserve
McMillan Island 6 Indian reserve
Matsqui 4 Indian reserve
Katzie 1 Indian reserve
Langley 5 Indian reserve
Whonnock 1 Indian reserve

[trueviking]

it shows that there are almost 15 000 people in 'moveable dwellings' in edmonton....way more than most cities....weird.

[softee]

The Quebec side of Ottawa-Gatineau brings the Ottawa CMA's % down since slab apartments are not as common in Quebec as they are in Ontario.

[eemy]

^ If anyone has access to the 2001 Census, it should be fairly straight forward to obtain the count for just Ottawa. Statscan always provides the data for Ottawa and Gatineau separately and jointly. Since this is just by CMA, they don't have the data listed separately. As far as I can tell, the data available on the Community Profile part of the Statscan website is only from the shortform, and possibly select parts of the longform. This data isn't available for free though.

[SteelTown]

No surprised Hamilton is at the top 3. Considering Hamilton still has the tallest residental tower in Canada outside of the GTA.

photos from WZ1
http://mattshaverphotography.zenfolio.com/img/p794399176-4.jpg

http://mattshaverphotography.zenfolio.com/img/p907666226-4.jpg

[feepa]

No surprised Hamilton is at the top 3. Considering Hamilton still has the tallest residental tower in Canada outside of the GTA.



got any stats to prove your fact?
How tall is this residential tower?

[SteelTown]

Landmark Place which is that skyscraper with the Christmas lights on the top of it is 43 storey. It's not a mixed used building it's completely a residential building.

http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=landmarkplace-hamilton-canada

[Tone]

its 5 meter taller than Le port royal in mtl maybe because of the christmas tree?:jester:

[SteelTown]

No there's a pole on top of that tower so during Christmas they decorate it by throwing some Christmas lights around it to make it look like a gaint Christmas tree. That constant flashing red light at the top of the pole is the star of the Christmas tree lol.

[Tone]

(just kidding)nice Christmas look for sure

[MolsonExport]

very interesting, with surprising findings.

[DC83]

winnipeg has a crazy amount of suburban commie blocks....i only recently came to the realization that not every city does....i always just thought it was normal.

http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/3673/apjn3.jpg


Hey. Stoney Creek (suburb of Hamilton) is pretty much full of commie blocks too... take a look (pics by Flar)

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b270/DC_83/sc1.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b270/DC_83/sc2.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b270/DC_83/sc3.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b270/DC_83/sc4.jpg

[trueviking]

cool...that could easily be suburban winnipeg.

[miketoronto]

You guys ever worry all these Canadian high-rise condos/apartments will turn into nasty slums at one point?

I know here in Toronto there are a number of these old high-rises that are not very choice buildings to live in, and already kinda slummy.

Do you see this being a bigger problem as our cities age more?

[Snashcan]

You guys ever worry all these Canadian high-rise condos/apartments will turn into nasty slums at one point?

I know here in Toronto there are a number of these old high-rises that are not very choice buildings to live in, and already kinda slummy.

Do you see this being a bigger problem as our cities age more?

I actually heard a lecture today at my school from the former Head of Planning in Vancouver, Larry Beasley and he is basically travelling and lecturing to make sure this doesn't happen, was really interesting to see what he had done with Vancouver and why the downtown has become so liveable.

I would imagine these buildings will either be torn down or renovated.

I also see that Toronto number rising, especially with developments such as Cityplace.

[DC83]

You guys ever worry all these Canadian high-rise condos/apartments will turn into nasty slums at one point?

I know here in Toronto there are a number of these old high-rises that are not very choice buildings to live in, and already kinda slummy.

Do you see this being a bigger problem as our cities age more?


I think it depends on the area. All these High Rise Commie Blocks in Stoney Creek aren't all that ghetto.

There are a COUPLE that are ghetto (known as Jerome Crescent) mainly b/c it was packed with Yugoslavians during the exodus back in the late 90's. I think Stoney Creek has the highest concentration of Eastern Euro ppl in Canada or something like that (thanks to these commie blocks).

But the fact that Stoney Creek (mainly in the core) is PACKED with seniors, and more & more boomers, makes the other buildings nice as Seniors tend to care more about their living environment and have more disposable income that say refugees like those over in the Jerome Crescent area.

[Mike K.]

We'll start knocking down the old buildings, recycling whatever we can and building anew :)

[IntotheWest]

Landmark Place which is that skyscraper with the Christmas lights on the top of it is 43 storey. It's not a mixed used building it's completely a residential building.

http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=landmarkplace-hamilton-canada

Calgary is way down on that list (right now), but Arriva - currently under construction at about the 27th floor - will be one foot taller...according to Emporis.;)

[miketoronto]

Some of the commie's here in Toronto are really nice to. The ones near Yonge-Eglinton are very well kept and have middle class people.

But in the inner suburbs you can tell that a large number of these apartment towers have seen much better days and are just housing the down and out of Toronto. Once middle class buildings are now full of drugs, etc.

So I wonder what will be done with these buildings, because its a shame that whole blocks of these buildings are all in decay.

[Doady]

There are a COUPLE that are ghetto (known as Jerome Crescent)

Are you serious? My uncle lives there, and he's never complained about it.

[Bad Grizzly]

i bet most cities in the country will have their number increase over the next few years....seems to be a trend.

winnipeg will likely move up between half and one percent in the next year, as there are more than 15 buildings (most between 7-10 storeys) either under construction or scheduled for a spring start.

Agreed. This is a good trend for the country to have.

Calgary's numbers will move up, but unfortunately the percentage probably won't. With respect to new buildings over 5 storeys, we have several thousand units planned or u/c. I believe the number is around 10,000, with almost all in the core. This is a good sign, but suburban single family housing is still going strong as well.

[Surrealplaces]

Would've thought Hfx would be higher, but I guess 6% isn't too shabby. Still higher than Calgary or Edmonton...

Btw, I'm not sure how accurate this is, since the population numbers (and potentially the percentages) are pretty old.

These numbers are from 2001, I can tell by the total number of dwellings, for Calgary, they are using 2001 numbers.

Since 2001, Calgary has added at least 3,000 dwellings (maybe more) in buildings that are over 5 storeys. It will be interesting to see where Calgary comes in today, and where they will in 5 years.
Of course Calgary has also added over 50,000 dwellings of all types since then, but at least the percentage will be going.

[osmo]

it dosnt surprise me regina is last my city has probley 2 building in its downtown core that have units in it k maybe 3.. its a new focus in out city to get ppl living downtown so hopefully the number rises

[GeneralLeeTPHLS]

Just wanted to bring back this thread because I'm interested in what the stats are like now for the CMA's of Canada. Reading these previous posts makes it really intriguing how Canada's really grown with midrise/highrise living.

[Jagators63]

Edmonton will have the tallest residential tower by 2019 when it is completed at 43 storey about 138m. The tower is called Encore.

The tower is now under construction

http://encoretower.com/specs

Sorry about Hamilton

[TownGuy]

Say what?

[Harrison]

Edmonton will have the tallest residential tower by 2019 when it is completed at 43 storey about 138m. The tower is called Encore.

The tower is now under construction

http://encoretower.com/specs

Sorry about Hamilton

Tallest...outside Toronto, Vancouver and possibly Calgary? Need some clarification here.

[itom 987]

Tallest 'residential only' tower within the city I believe....

[Mrs Sauga]

I expected Vancouver to be a lot higher.

Montreal too, but I guess they have so many midrises

[GreaterMontréal]

I expected Vancouver to be a lot higher.

Montreal too, but I guess they have so many midrises

Apartments in a building that has fewer than five storeys : 41.2%
Single-detached houses : 32.7
Apartments in a building that has five or more storeys : 8.8%
Apartments or flats in a duplex : 8.5%
Other dwellings : 8.9%

http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/as-sa/98-200-x/2016005/98-200-x2016005-eng.cfm

[Xelebes]

The increases of note:

Toronto: +9% [40% gain in share]
Ottawa-gatineau: +3% [27% gain]
Hamilton: +5% [32% gain]
London: +7% [68% gain]
Winnipeg: +4% [50% gain]
Vancouver: +9% [109% gain]
Kitchener: +4% [57% gain]
Montreal: +3% [47% gain]
Halifax: +6% [102% gain]
Quebec: +2% [53% gain]
Calgary: +2% [57% gain]
Edmonton: +1% [35% gain]
Victoria:+3% [113% gain]
Saskatoon: +1% [23% gain]
Regina: +2% [50% gain]

[casper]

Apartments in a building that has fewer than five storeys : 41.2%
Single-detached houses : 32.7
Apartments in a building that has five or more storeys : 8.8%
Apartments or flats in a duplex : 8.5%
Other dwellings : 8.9%

http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/as-sa/98-200-x/2016005/98-200-x2016005-eng.cfm

What is interesting looking at that data is that Vancouver has the lowest percentage of single family homes of any city in the study. That would suggest Vancouver is more urban community overall.

Single-detached homes: 29.4

Part of what drivers that appears to be a slightly higher percentage of duplexes. If you treat duplexes as a special case of single family then Montreal is the most urban overall.

[WhipperSnapper]

Tallest...outside Toronto, Vancouver and possibly Calgary? Need some clarification here.

Tallest residential tower in Edmonton. (although I do believe Encore's podium is commercial) That's all. We've come a long ways, height wise, since 2006.

[Denscity]

The increases of note:

Toronto: +9% [40% gain in share]
Ottawa-gatineau: +3% [27% gain]
Hamilton: +5% [32% gain]
London: +7% [68% gain]
Winnipeg: +4% [50% gain]
Vancouver: +9% [109% gain]
Kitchener: +4% [57% gain]
Montreal: +3% [47% gain]
Halifax: +6% [102% gain]
Quebec: +2% [53% gain]
Calgary: +2% [57% gain]
Edmonton: +1% [35% gain]
Victoria:+3% [113% gain]
Saskatoon: +1% [23% gain]
Regina: +2% [50% gain]

Vancouver and Victoria at the top with an over 100% increase each!

Thought Toronto would be higher.

[WhipperSnapper]

Toronto gained the same as Vancouver. 9% is pretty crazy. The lower gain as a percentage of the total only means that Toronto has a larger, maturer market than Vancouver for dwellings over 5 floors.

[Pinion]

I'm not too surprised by Ottawa and Hamilton. They both have a lot of residential high rise buildings. I am quite a bit surprised that Vancouver doesn't have a higher proportion of residents in tall buildings though. I guess their predominance ends when you leave downtown?

Metro Vancouver has close to 10 significant suburban residential skylines scattered across the valley, I've never seen anything like it in North America at least.

But there's lots of sfh too.

[softee]

Metro Vancouver has close to 10 significant suburban residential skylines scattered across the valley, I've never seen anything like it in North America at least.

Toronto also has at least a dozen significant skylines, and dozens more smaller clusters of hi-rises scattered across the metro area.

[TorontoDrew]

I was kind of expecting Vancouver and Toronto to be neck and neck. I wonder how we fare against other global cities. Manhattan must be at 80% or more, same with San Paolo, and Hong Kong.

[SaskOttaLoo]

Agreed. This is a good trend for the country to have.

Calgary's numbers will move up, but unfortunately the percentage probably won't. With respect to new buildings over 5 storeys, we have several thousand units planned or u/c. I believe the number is around 10,000, with almost all in the core. This is a good sign, but suburban single family housing is still going strong as well.

It's interesting...I used to be all about density but now I'm less enthused. I think Montreal's Mile End / Plateau neighbourhoods are the ideal in terms of density. I haven't lived in a +10 story building, but there seem to be some real trade-offs in terms of the ability to build a community with your neighbours that's more difficult. I was speaking to a friend from London UK last week, and he was shocked when I mentioned that so many Canadian high rises are residential. He said - and I haven't looked it up to confirm - that in London the vast majority of the high rises are for commercial purposes and that people don't want to live in them. If true, I think that's really interesting given how much higher the population density is in London. Then again, apparently it's the same in Tokyo - so many people live in small townhouses, not in massive condo buildings.

[Nouvellecosse]

It's interesting...I used to be all about density but now I'm less enthused. I think Montreal's Mile End / Plateau neighbourhoods are the ideal in terms of density. I haven't lived in a +10 story building, but there seem to be some real trade-offs in terms of the ability to build a community with your neighbours that's more difficult. I was speaking to a friend from London UK last week, and he was shocked when I mentioned that so many Canadian high rises are residential. He said - and I haven't looked it up to confirm - that in London the vast majority of the high rises are for commercial purposes and that people don't want to live in them. If true, I think that's really interesting given how much higher the population density is in London. Then again, apparently it's the same in Tokyo - so many people live in small townhouses, not in massive condo buildings.

I'd be very surprised if the bolded part is true. It might apply to central London, but greater London has huge numbers of residential highrises. Maybe he was too posh to ever venture beyond zone 1...

[GreaterMontréal]

It's interesting...I used to be all about density but now I'm less enthused. I think Montreal's Mile End / Plateau neighbourhoods are the ideal in terms of density. I haven't lived in a +10 story building, but there seem to be some real trade-offs in terms of the ability to build a community with your neighbours that's more difficult. I was speaking to a friend from London UK last week, and he was shocked when I mentioned that so many Canadian high rises are residential. He said - and I haven't looked it up to confirm - that in London the vast majority of the high rises are for commercial purposes and that people don't want to live in them. If true, I think that's really interesting given how much higher the population density is in London. Then again, apparently it's the same in Tokyo - so many people live in small townhouses, not in massive condo buildings.

not only Mile-End / Plateau

Le Sud-Ouest (which includes Griffintown) : 80k+
Villeray-Saint-Michel-Parc Extension : 150k
Rosemont-La Petite Patrie : 145k
Ahuntsic-Cartierville : 140k
Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve : 140k
etc .

I would say , the total triplex neighbourhoods population is well above 1M.

[TownGuy]

Toronto also has at least a dozen significant skylines, and dozens more smaller clusters of hi-rises scattered across the metro area.

Yep pretty much. This is just in one direction and as you can see there are little skylines, clusters, whatever, all over the place.

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8032/8073075352_2a43a4f4b4_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/dioC3m)
Toronto from Above (https://flic.kr/p/dioC3m) by Preston Kwan (https://www.flickr.com/photos/prestonk/), on Flickr

[hipster duck]

I haven't lived in a +10 story building, but there seem to be some real trade-offs in terms of the ability to build a community with your neighbours that's more difficult.

I don't think we should put too much stock in community building or social capital, or whatever it's called.

Generally speaking, the things that negatively affect the amount people interact with their neighbours are things that we urbanists tend to like: density, renting, different social classes and ethnicities living in close proximity to one another, etc.

If you want to have people talk to their neighbours, build a neighbourhood of single family detached homes on a cul-de-sac that are geared toward one specific income and demographic.

[vanman]

The increases of note:

Toronto: +9% [40% gain in share]
Ottawa-gatineau: +3% [27% gain]
Hamilton: +5% [32% gain]
London: +7% [68% gain]
Winnipeg: +4% [50% gain]
Vancouver: +9% [109% gain]
Kitchener: +4% [57% gain]
Montreal: +3% [47% gain]
Halifax: +6% [102% gain]
Quebec: +2% [53% gain]
Calgary: +2% [57% gain]
Edmonton: +1% [35% gain]
Victoria:+3% [113% gain]
Saskatoon: +1% [23% gain]
Regina: +2% [50% gain]

This completely goes against the grain of the empty highrise condo hyperbole that is prevalent in Vancouver at least. More people than ever are living in towers.

In BC's case the modification of the building code in 2009 allowing 6 story wood frame buildings must have made quite an impact on the current stats.

[Capsicum]

I was kind of expecting Vancouver and Toronto to be neck and neck. I wonder how we fare against other global cities. Manhattan must be at 80% or more, same with San Paolo, and Hong Kong.

To be fair, Manhattan is only one part of NYC itself let alone the metro, so it's obviously going to be hard to top, since the Toronto number is CMA, the metro area if not NYC would be a fairer comparison.

[MonkeyRonin]

I'd be very surprised if the bolded part is true. It might apply to central London, but greater London has huge numbers of residential highrises. Maybe he was too posh to ever venture beyond zone 1...


Yep, London has thousands of mostly-residential high-rises.


http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2851/9000453491_0bd05133bc_b.jpg

[someone123]

I don't think we should put too much stock in community building or social capital, or whatever it's called.

Generally speaking, the things that negatively affect the amount people interact with their neighbours are things that we urbanists tend to like: density, renting, different social classes and ethnicities living in close proximity to one another, etc.

If you want to have people talk to their neighbours, build a neighbourhood of single family detached homes on a cul-de-sac that are geared toward one specific income and demographic.

I would also counter that meeting up with your neighbours on your cul-de-sac is just one form of community building, and it often doesn't happen anyway.

In healthy cities community building is a diverse activity that takes many forms. Communities can be based on lots of things other than proximity, perhaps because so many people live near you in an urban setting that proximity is not a big deal and you can specialize more than that with your social groups.

I think there are other fundamental social factors that are so much more important than built form of housing that built form is clearly a second-order concern. If you don't have a stable income and you can't afford housing in the first place or have any free time because you are too overworked then you cannot participate meaningfully in any community. We should be talking about structuring housing development so that it serves these fundamental goals of affordability and accessibility or ease of movement. Canadian cities are actively failing at these goals.

The fact that we have one portion of society setting the agenda based on block parties and having places for their kids to play road hockey while another portion struggles to find any place to live or have any kind of social life is terrible.