Downtown Update

[mishap]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

my opposition is more to do with how it's a "guilty until proven innocent" method of collecting it - it's not based on the principles of western democracy. Your unit is presumed vacant unless you provide evidence to the government that it's not - and that's not how it should be collected.

According to one councillor, for every property that is subject to the tax, another 100 properties would have to fill out forms to declare themselves non-taxable. So the city has to print, mail out (and provide return postage), process all of those forms to collect how much? A few hundred dollars more? And say after all that, the city still comes out a bit ahead. How.much extra cost has been dumped in the laps of property owners? Not much in actual cost, but certainly the equivalent of a few dollars each in terms of time to complete the form and make sure it gets returned. Now multiply that by 100. The total cost (that imposed on those property owners plus the city's expenses) is going to exceed the money the city gets out of the one.

[atnor]

Originally Posted by Beedok

It’s, uh… it’s still considered racist. And voting for the PPC is not a good look. A bunch of anti-vax extremists…

Our population is aging and if we don’t want our economy to collapse from that the options are: a) force people to have kids, b) immigration, or c) cloning.

Only one of those is really viable. We do need to encourage more immigrants who are blue collar trades workers, though, since one of the primary bottlenecks in the construction industry isn’t a lack of land but a lack of workers.

Why is questioning the levels of immigration racist? I admitted their governance would likely be a mess but as far as I’m concerned, they are bang on about unsustainable immigration. 1 million new Canadians is too much each year is too much, even the liberals are coming around to recognizing this fact.

Exercising and allowing for bodily autonomy is something I agree with. Voices saying the vaccines would cause autism, gene mutation, etc are nutty indeed but when I look at the NDP peddling this — below this will forever deter me from considering the NDP as a viable party.

https://twitter.com/TheCounterSgnl/status/1713963950461829146

[TheHonestMaple]

Originally Posted by downtown_eddie_brown

Kroetsch upsets the right people, as evidenced above. As long as housing is a commodity with no non-market alternative, people are going to use them as investment vehicles, immigrants or no immigrants. All the empty condo units are evidence of that, which is why a vacant unit tax is helpful. Welcome to a globalized housing market.

If you really want to bring housing prices under control, massive investment in government-owned housing rented out at far below market price is required; This forces private sales to compete with an artifically cheap alternative.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Million_Programme

When has 'non-market' alternatives ever worked? The government has no business messing with the market. It always leads to disaster.

[Chronamut]

or we can just adjust the way we run our country so that we don't have to keep increasing the population unsustainably every year and filling up every single possible space with new people and just work on.. maintaining what we got and housing those we can't currently house.

You know.. like people did for centuries.

[downtown_eddie_brown]

Originally Posted by Chronamut

or we can just adjust the way we run our country so that we don't have to keep increasing the population unsustainably every year and filling up every single possible space with new people and just work on.. maintaining what we got and housing those we can't currently house.

You know.. like people did for centuries.

While it sounds nice, we never did this for centuries. In fact, at many points in Canadian history, about the same proportion of the Canadian population was foreign-born as now.

Honestly, if you want people to stop wanting to move here, the easiest way would be to ensure they have opportunities in their countries of origin. Unfortunately, capitalist economies rely on growth and people desperate enough to do horrible work for cheap, and immigration has always provided that very well.

[Chronamut]

Originally Posted by downtown_eddie_brown

While it sounds nice, we never did this for centuries. In fact, at many points in Canadian history, about the same proportion of the Canadian population was foreign-born as now.

Honestly, if you want people to stop wanting to move here, the easiest way would be to ensure they have opportunities in their countries of origin. Unfortunately, capitalist economies rely on growth and people desperate enough to do horrible work for cheap, and immigration has always provided that very well.

I meant historically on the planet - there have been many centuries in the far past where people just kept the people they had - hence why ethnicities exist in the first place - it was just all those types of people for centuries just slowly growing on their own - also I think the big difference is, and it may have been the same in the past, but the people coming here are not assimilating, they are just forming silos of their own culture and I feel that's going to be an issue eventually. And I get it, it's a bit of a herd mentality but I feel we need to put more emphasis on better integration. Also a lot of these people come from places where they were homeless and now WE no longer have places to house them.. so we can't house our own people, and we can't house these people coming in.

And yes it would be wonderful if we could just fix everyone's countries everywhere, and we probably try to but unfortunately you can't fix people, they have to fix themselves and want to fix themselves..

also our problem is a lot of our country CAN'T really be built on - the canadian shield makes it expensive to build on hence why most of our population is so close to the american border - we can't all just slowly migrate up north, that and the temperature difference - it makes it deceptively look like canada has a TON of space for people when really it's more or less a sliver with scattered pockets everywhere else.

That and most places center around water regardless because of trade routes from the past.

[HamiltonBoyInToronto]

I don't understand how people keep saying they are priced out of the housing market
There are still many many places for sale in the 400's - maybe not a 3000 sq/ft home in the suburbs but a small condo - just get your foot in the door and slowly climb the ladder
It takes sacrifice and discipline but that's usually how people do.it unless you were lucky enough to have generational wealth or inheritance
I think many people look at it the wrong way or have a bad approach to the housing market
Obviously there are people who will just never own and that's just a reality but for the most part 2 people with good paying jobs should be able to save up, sacrifice and get into entry level home ownership

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by HamiltonBoyInToronto

I think many people look at it the wrong way or have a bad approach to the housing market
Obviously there are people who will just never own and that's just a reality but for the most part 2 people with good paying jobs should be able to save up, sacrifice and get into entry level home ownership

For starters, viewing renting as a negative proposition is an approach that needs to change.

Part of that is based on circumstance -- it is much easier for a single or a couple to find a suitable rental than a family -- but ownership seems to be the be-all and end-all for many, many people.

I've become a renter again after my life situation changed. I'm paying a lot more rent than I did before re-entering the housing market several years ago, for essentially the same size unit in a different city and urban context (it was fully renovated though just before I moved in, so that's a big difference). But I'm also spending a LOT less in utilities and all the costs involved in home ownership, some of which many people may not consider.

I'll start saving again and when I have more certainty about my finances I'll likely purchase a home of some kind... a small single-detached, townhouse, condo, who knows... but this return to being a renter is not a big deal to me and if I do it for 5 or 10 more years that would be just fine -- I'll continue to save, and invest that savings (which is key; renters can prosper but need to be smart with the money that would otherwise have gone toward the equity in home ownership). I do have family members who lament that I am not buying another property right away, and while they understand it's not affordable to me at the moment they think I'm throwing money away, and I disagree.

[Innsertnamehere]

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[HamiltonBoyInToronto]

Originally Posted by ScreamingViking

For starters, viewing renting as a negative proposition is an approach that needs to change.

Part of that is based on circumstance -- it is much easier for a single or a couple to find a suitable rental than a family -- but ownership seems to be the be-all and end-all for many, many people.

I've become a renter again after my life situation changed. I'm paying a lot more rent than I did before re-entering the housing market several years ago, for essentially the same size unit in a different city and urban context (it was fully renovated though just before I moved in, so that's a big difference). But I'm also spending a LOT less in utilities and all the costs involved in home ownership, some of which many people may not consider.

I'll start saving again and when I have more certainty about my finances I'll likely purchase a home of some kind... a small single-detached, townhouse, condo, who knows... but this return to being a renter is not a big deal to me and if I do it for 5 or 10 more years that would be just fine -- I'll continue to save, and invest that savings (which is key; renters can prosper but need to be smart with the money that would otherwise have gone toward the equity in home ownership). I do have family members who lament that I am not buying another property right away, and while they understand it's not affordable to me at the moment they think I'm throwing money away, and I disagree.

I hope you don't think I was in any way referring to renters in a negative manner - there are a great many benefits to renting for many people
I just hate the typical cop out of many people today throwing in the towel as if it's a 3000sqft mansion or bust !

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by HamiltonBoyInToronto

I hope you don't think I was in any way referring to renters in a negative manner - there are a great many benefits to renting for many people
I just hate the typical cop out of many people today throwing in the towel as if it's a 3000sqft mansion or bust !

Not at all.

It's just been on my mind stemming from a recent conversation with my sister, who has been an owner for a long time but has needed help to maintain that (and to get her first place too).

I think another thing that needs to change are expectations, so I quite agree with you. E.g., what a "starter" home means today is very different from what it meant when my parents got their first one in the early 1970s. And I don't fault builders for not putting up small houses, since the market for them is more limited (and there are plenty of older ones in Hamilton, especially in the central mountain area).

Expectations can go the other way too, depending on life stage. For example, now that my parents are ageing, I would love to see them sell the multi-level side-split on the deep 40'+ lot they've been in for nearly 50 years and move into a bungalow or modest ranch home that meets all their needs on one floor, with less work to maintain. I doubt they'd ever go for a unit in a building, but all the stairs they currently have are becoming less manageable and the house needs work. It would be perfect for a growing family moving up from a smaller dwelling and willing to put effort into a place they can live in for a long time.

[atnor]

Seems like most people migrated to urban Toronto forum. For those still using SkyScraperPage, a lot more discussion happening here:

https://urbantoronto.ca/forum/forums/buildings.5/?prefix_id=2

[Chronamut]

Originally Posted by atnor

Seems like most people migrated to urban Toronto forum. For those still using SkyScraperPage, a lot more discussion happening here:

https://urbantoronto.ca/forum/forums/buildings.5/?prefix_id=2

Only because the servers appear to be down half the time I use this site now.. never used to be like that..

[ScreamingViking]

I have been lurking/reading UT... but not sure I want to dive into it.

Part of that is probably because I'd hate to be discussing Hamilton issues on a Toronto forum.

I'm old school, I know.

[akiraredacted]

Wake me up when the Urban Hamilton forum drops

[Hawrylyshyn]

In the past it used to focus on Toronto, but it's definitely shifted more towards Southern Ontario in general. I'd love to see a rebrand that's less "Toronto"

[TheHonestMaple]

Originally Posted by Hawrylyshyn

In the past it used to focus on Toronto, but it's definitely shifted more towards Southern Ontario in general. I'd love to see a rebrand that's less "Toronto"

They have another banner called SkyriseCities which is global.

[King&James]

I do like for SSP for things that are not particularly buildings , which I can see UT handles way better than this engine (photos here are so cumbersome). Items like the airport or two way streets I am sure are not covered in UT

[Chronamut]

Originally Posted by ScreamingViking

I have been lurking/reading UT... but not sure I want to dive into it.

Part of that is probably because I'd hate to be discussing Hamilton issues on a Toronto forum.

I'm old school, I know.

Hasn't stopped me lol..

[Innsertnamehere]

The building permits keep rolling, with November permit data out now.

November saw $258 million in permits issued, resulting in a year-to-date permit value of just under $2.5 billion and a 12-month rolling average of $2.532 billion. Hamilton is on track to significantly exceed it's previous permit value record, all the more incredible given the challenging development market right now.


Major permits include:

- $8 million 181 John and 192 Hughson - these are the podium additions on these towers which are almost built. Surprised to see them only getting permits now.
- $5.8 million - 1190 main st w - foundations (Lincoln Alexander Hall foundations permit)
- $96 million - 1021 West 5th, new apartments
- 92 million - 75 James St N, New Apartments


As an aside - it still surprises me on the number of $2+ million single family home permits getting issues. There are 5-6 a month it seems.