General Updates and News

[Haliguy]

Originally Posted by Colin May

We live in a home built in 1917 on a 30 x 60 feet lot. Raised 3 kids. Been here 41 years. Close to a school, Dartmouth Common is 100 yards away. Dense housing is normal in the area.
Sensible people readily admit in news outlets that loose immigration rules is one of the major cause of the housing crisis and you will hear the same concern in much of Europe.
Who wants to raise kids in a condo and where do the kids play ?
Speaking to people under the age of 40 I hear a lot of ABT sentiment.
I often wonder how many posters on this forum have kids, intend to have kids or had kids.
Looking at a proposed development on Wyse road the construction cost is circa $250,000 per unit and that is before calculating the cost of the property purchase and any profit margin.

Where will kids play? in the same neighbourhoods that already exist where kids play.

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by Colin May

Who wants to raise kids in a condo and where do the kids play ?

Do you think most kids around the world grow up with their very own yard? They don't. I have two kids and I actually own a house, a Hydrostone rowhouse. We have a backyard, sort of, but it's more a patio area backing onto the lane. For real roughhousing na running around the kids play in our abundant neighbourhood parks, of which we have several within a few blocks, all of are very far from being used to capacity.

It would be very convenient to just be able to boot the kids into a big backyard rather than have to take them to the park, but on the other hand, the parks are bigger and better than a solo backyard could be, and the kids bump into friends and neighbours there, rather than play in isolation. A trade-off, but better I think.

[ArchAficionado]

Yeah, as a 25 year-old coming up in the world and trying to be in the position to own *any* home by the age of 30 so that I can start a family in a safe and stable environment, I can see what you're advocating for, Colin, but I also agree with other posters (perhaps of my age demographic, not that I'm trying to make this a generational beef in any way) that we need more of ALL types of housing. Indeed, the immigration is irresponsible right now, but if the feds are going to keep that up, we simply have no choice but to build as much of everything as our developers and supply chains are able to produce - highrises, suburbs on highway corridors, you name it. We need all the housing we can get.

That's why this bill passing is definitely a positive change, because in this type of an economic environment / extreme housing crisis, zoning should not be a factor limiting any sort of construction, because we absolutely, desperately need every solitary unit we can get!!

Furthermore, I agree that I'd prefer to raise my children in a freestanding home or townhouse with a small private yard, and that it is appropriate to build some SFH, albeit in a much more compact form (small lot sizes, more verticality, and less half acre mcmansions with a 200' wooded gully between every street), but again, there is a large sector of the populus that would be perfectly happy just to have a 500 square foot apartment that they can actually own and hence lock in a stable cost of living, and not be increasingly gouged for rent that is going up at 3 times the rate of the supposed inflation rate.

The housing crisis is obnoxious at this point - doubling of prices, bidding wars for slummy rentals, and yet developments still get denied on the basis of "character" or "too tall". We should literally have the army deployed to build basic 2 bedroom apartment buildings anywhere there is the space to do so. It's that bad!

[Dartguard]

Originally Posted by ArchAficionado

The housing crisis is obnoxious at this point - doubling of prices, bidding wars for slummy rentals, and yet developments still get denied on the basis of "character" or "too tall". We should literally have the army deployed to build basic 2 bedroom apartment buildings anywhere there is the space to do so. It's that bad!

There is no Army to build anything. All units are at best 66% of manning IF they are lucky. Another Trudeau policy of he don't GAF.

[worldlyhaligonian]

Originally Posted by Colin May

We live in a home built in 1917 on a 30 x 60 feet lot. Raised 3 kids. Been here 41 years. Close to a school, Dartmouth Common is 100 yards away. Dense housing is normal in the area.
Sensible people readily admit in news outlets that loose immigration rules is one of the major cause of the housing crisis and you will hear the same concern in much of Europe.
Who wants to raise kids in a condo and where do the kids play ?
Speaking to people under the age of 40 I hear a lot of ABT sentiment.
I often wonder how many posters on this forum have kids, intend to have kids or had kids.
Looking at a proposed development on Wyse road the construction cost is circa $250,000 per unit and that is before calculating the cost of the property purchase and any profit margin.

Then sell me your house for what you paid for it, adjusted for only the increases in CPI.

Your tune will change right away. You have experienced luck, nothing more.

[Colin May]

"Your tune will change right away. You have experienced luck, nothing more."
Hilarious. My job disappeared, a change in international business operations, a month after we bought the house with a 13.5% mortgage.
Few people chose to live in downtown Dartmouth, the burbs were the place to be. School up the hill, the school board wanted to close the school. That was quite a fight and now it is full.
If you have an any investments such as RRSP or RHOSP or are in a pension plan I very much doubt you would be happy with a rate of return of the CPI.
If we sell we need another place to live and we looked at an apartment in Avonhurst in the belief we could sell the house and use the proceeds to pay rent. Rent is now a little short of $3,000 a month (parking extra).
There are seniors who sold homes before the market for single family homes went crazy.
They are now worried that their money will run out before they die.
Winning the lottery is luck, selecting a place to live is complicated and requires hard work and sacrifice.

[Keith P.]

One thing that HRM Council has proven hugely successful at (other than just pissing away tax dollars) - with this latest move they have created a degree of strife and divisiveness among the populace unlike any I have ever seen before. It makes The Great Bike Lane Debate seem like small potatoes by comparison. Well done, Council!

They should all resign.

[HarbingerDe]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

One thing that HRM Council has proven hugely successful at (other than just pissing away tax dollars) - with this latest move they have created a degree of strife and divisiveness among the populace unlike any I have ever seen before. It makes The Great Bike Lane Debate seem like small potatoes by comparison. Well done, Council!

They should all resign.

The strife was created by the fact that I can't find a 1-bedroom to rent for less than about $1800/mo while people like you pay $900/mo mortgages on your 4-bedroom houses and actively fight against people like me ever having a chance of owning a home condo/4plex/single-family detached or otherwise.

If this objectively good decision by Council makes some comfortable and privileged homeowners a bit angry, I could frankly care less.

Young working professionals deserve a place to live. We deserve an affordable place to live, and the decades of NIMBY obstructionism can't draw to a close any sooner. I don't know a single person under the age of 35 who is opposed to this council ruling... What does that tell you? You already got your home. Nobody is going to force you to turn it into a 4plex. Maybe we should be enacting policies that will allow my generation even a sliver of the privilege you've been afforded in life.

Thank you.

[worldlyhaligonian]

Originally Posted by Colin May

"Your tune will change right away. You have experienced luck, nothing more."
Hilarious. My job disappeared, a change in international business operations, a month after we bought the house with a 13.5% mortgage.
Few people chose to live in downtown Dartmouth, the burbs were the place to be. School up the hill, the school board wanted to close the school. That was quite a fight and now it is full.
If you have an any investments such as RRSP or RHOSP or are in a pension plan I very much doubt you would be happy with a rate of return of the CPI.
If we sell we need another place to live and we looked at an apartment in Avonhurst in the belief we could sell the house and use the proceeds to pay rent. Rent is now a little short of $3,000 a month (parking extra).
There are seniors who sold homes before the market for single family homes went crazy.
They are now worried that their money will run out before they die.
Winning the lottery is luck, selecting a place to live is complicated and requires hard work and sacrifice.

How much was the house? Nobody cares about 13.5% mortgage if the overall price wasn't high. Sounds like you managed despite the type of setback that would put someone on the street today.

I do want to have kids and am also fiscally responsible. I almost own my condo by throwing all of my money at it, but there is no way I'm paying/able to pay $800k for a house that was $300k about five years ago and $100k 25 years ago. My ROI isn't anywhere close to that in any of my investments. You're tell me you can turn 300k into 800k in 5 years? Doubt it... you wouldn't be on this forum.

You're basically throwing shade at other people's ability to do something that was entirely opportunity based at the time.

So - will you sell your house at a reasonable price or be part of the problem?

[worldlyhaligonian]

Originally Posted by HarbingerDe

The strife was created by the fact that I can't find a 1-bedroom to rent for less than about $1800/mo while people like you pay $900/mo mortgages on your 4-bedroom houses and actively fight against people like me ever having a chance of owning a home condo/4plex/single-family detached or otherwise.

If this objectively good decision by Council makes some comfortable and privileged homeowners a bit angry, I could frankly care less.

Young working professionals deserve a place to live. We deserve an affordable place to live, and the decades of NIMBY obstructionism can't draw to a close any sooner. I don't know a single person under the age of 35 who is opposed to this council ruling... What does that tell you? You already got your home. Nobody is going to force you to turn it into a 4plex. Maybe we should be enacting policies that will allow my generation even a sliver of the privilege you've been afforded in life.

Thank you.

There is no point in arguing with these types, they don't get it.

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by HarbingerDe

The strife was created by the fact that I can't find a 1-bedroom to rent for less than about $1800/mo while people like you pay $900/mo mortgages on your 4-bedroom houses and actively fight against people like me ever having a chance of owning a home condo/4plex/single-family detached or otherwise.

None of this will suddenly result in $150,000 homes suddenly being built.

[LikesBikes]

It's one of many necessary steps to get enough supply built to meet demand. Even if we weren't in a housing crisis though there's no great need to limit density in neighbourhood where people want to live. The best cities in the world are filled with apartment buildings and higher density than SFHs.

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by LikesBikes

It's one of many necessary steps to get enough supply built to meet demand. Even if we weren't in a housing crisis though there's no great need to limit density in neighbourhood where people want to live. The best cities in the world are filled with apartment buildings and higher density than SFHs.

Often found in failed Communist states.

[LikesBikes]

And western Europe...

[alps]

Originally Posted by HarbingerDe

I don't know a single person under the age of 35 who is opposed to this council ruling... What does that tell you? You already got your home. Nobody is going to force you to turn it into a 4plex. Maybe we should be enacting policies that will allow my generation even a sliver of the privilege you've been afforded in life.

On Thursday, several councillors noted the stark generational divide between the pro-HAF and anti-HAF speakers. The divide already existed, but homeowners were insulated from it.

I don't expect HAF will be some kind of silver bullet, but I now feel that young people/renters (who are second-class citizens in Canada) can actually move the needle in the right direction.

[HarbingerDe]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

None of this will suddenly result in $150,000 homes suddenly being built.

And further restricting density will? People like you will take a dump on the implementation of common sense half-measures that at least have the POTENTIAL of helping solve the crisis, but provide no alternative.

If we're not increasing density in the regional center, what do you propose?

The HRM is already an immensely sprawling urban/suburban area relative to its population size.

It's straining our public transit system. Traffic gets perceptibly worse almost every week. We can barely repair all of the roads in time for them to get destroyed by another freeze/thaw cycle. The list just goes on.

If we're not increasing density, where do you propose all these new single-family detached home neighborhoods go? And whose tax dollars will fund them? The suburbs are already MASSIVELY subsidized by everybody who lives in the denser city center.

[HarbingerDe]

Originally Posted by alps

On Thursday, several councillors noted the stark generational divide between the pro-HAF and anti-HAF speakers. The divide already existed, but homeowners were insulated from it.

I don't expect HAF will be some kind of silver bullet, but I now feel that young people/renters (who are second-class citizens in Canada) can actually move the needle in the right direction.

Well said. Honestly, this is the first time in my life (as a young working adult) that I have felt like the government (municipal, provincial, or federal) has prioritized my needs over the wants/whims of wealthy/comfortable homeowners who are richer than me and were essentially given every advantage in life (relatively speaking).

It was the first time I've felt a spark of hope about the future in many years.

Will I ever own a detached single family home with a big yard like every aspect of society has programmed me to believe I should want/need? Maybe not. But is there at least a future where the needs of the young struggling working class are not completely disregarded? Maybe.

[DBaz]

Originally Posted by HarbingerDe

If we're not increasing density, where do you propose all these new single-family detached home neighborhoods go? And whose tax dollars will fund them? The suburbs are already MASSIVELY subsidized by everybody who lives in the denser city center.

I live in the mid-suburbs... Lawrencetown area to be precise. I just moved here, and one of the things that surprised me was how in demand my smaller house in Cole Harbour was for young families.

We made the decision to move out here for two reasons:
- I retired, so I wanted to slow down (even though for the next couple of years I need to take my kids into town for school, for a reasons)
- my partners parents are going into a basement suite we are building

The first thing I learned is that people out here don't realize:
- how privileged they are... they complain about everything, especially roads
- how subsidized they are; they don't seem to have any idea how much those roads cost, who pays for them, and why HRM was actually amalgamated (there was reason why the province put pressure on).

I am absolutely in favor of letting people who live in the higher density cores to decide how they want those cores to develop, and spend money to make it so. Which means less cars, more transit, and more active transportation.

By the way, I went down town last night for supper at Queens Marque. Parked in Purdies Wharf for $9, five minute walk, no real traffic problems even in the construction zone, nice patio, and people watching... all in all, a pleasant experience. As others have said, if it isn't for you, go to Dartmouth Crossing. There are three mirror chains right next to each other with great big parking lots, have at it.

[Dartguard]

Originally Posted by DBaz

I live in the mid-suburbs... Lawrencetown area to be precise. I just moved here, and one of the things that surprised me was how in demand my smaller house in Cole Harbour was for young families.

We made the decision to move out here for two reasons:
- I retired, so I wanted to slow down (even though for the next couple of years I need to take my kids into town for school, for a reasons)
- my partners parents are going into a basement suite we are building

The first thing I learned is that people out here don't realize:
- how privileged they are... they complain about everything, especially roads
- how subsidized they are; they don't seem to have any idea how much those roads cost, who pays for them, and why HRM was actually amalgamated (there was reason why the province put pressure on).

I am absolutely in favor of letting people who live in the higher density cores to decide how they want those cores to develop, and spend money to make it so. Which means less cars, more transit, and more active transportation.

By the way, I went down town last night for supper at Queens Marque. Parked in Purdies Wharf for $9, five minute walk, no real traffic problems even in the construction zone, nice patio, and people watching... all in all, a pleasant experience. As others have said, if it isn't for you, go to Dartmouth Crossing. There are three mirror chains right next to each other with great big parking lots, have at it.

I still live in Cole Harbour but frequent downtown often. I will park my car in DT Dartmouth and take the Ferry to Halifax.Very easy and only too happy to experience this ever changing -for the better -City. I will also walk around DT Halifax for exercise.

[Dmajackson]

The former Needs Convenience at 6130 Chebucto Road (at Windsor) is planned to become a 7-storey, 71-unit residential building.