[Nouvellecosse]

To me a big part of the problem is that it's so common for large parts of a city to be zoned exclusively for single family homes to the point that the only way to satisfy demand for new housing is either greenfield sprawl on the outskirts or highrise projects on the limited sites where they're permitted. I honestly don't believe that the type of zoning which excludes anything but low density housing should even be permitted. I don't have a problem with hight limits in certain neighbourhoods, but it should be possible to at least build lowrise apartment and condo buildings in any residential area if there's demand for them. If that were possible (and had been possible for awhile) then it would be less necessary to even have larger residential highrises in a setting such as HRM.

The fact that such exclusionary zoning exists is something I honestly consider to be a form of corruption. City officials are likely to know and have connections with these established residents and perhaps be among them themselves. It isn't about renter vs owner necessarily, but rather about the influence of entrenched, established interests vs those who are still struggling to get a foothold. Showing that type of deference to the former is not the way that government power should be used in a democracy. The government should be considering everyone, and should certainly give greater consideration to those who are in need of housing. There's no legitimate reason that the government should be using its power to shield the established from being affected by a city's growth or allow established neighbourhoods to shirk their responsibility to host their fair share of new residents force smaller areas such as major streets and downtowns to absorb disproportionately disruptive changes. If we were to really be fair, areas with the lowest density such as those dominated by SFHs would be absorbing the most growth since they're the ones with the lowest density and can therefore handle more.

Yes I understand that people don't like changes and I sympathize with their feelings. As long as they're reasonable and know better than to use their emotional reactions as an excuse to act out in ways that harm the rest of the community.