Quote:
Originally Posted by logan5
Comparing the cost of highrise condo and a townhouse unit in Coquitlam reveals a huge disparity. You can get a 1500 sq foot townhouse in Coquitlam for around 950k. For a unit that size in a highrise it would cost you 1.5 million. Plus you pay a lot less in maintenance fees in a townhouse.
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The difference in price is a function of what people are willing to pay, not what it costs to build. If people weren't willing to pay extra to live in the highrise (better safety, less noise, better view) then you wouldn't see that price gap.
Imagine if it cost 5x what it does now to build a tower, and the price was 7.5mn per unit, they wouldn't sell for that price just because that is what it cost to build them, they just wouldn't sell period.
As invis was saying, I wouldn't point to Burquitlam as an example of planners not allowing townhouses/low rise, there are tons of them in the area that are going up or already up.
Personally, I don't agree with always zoning the tallest buildings for the busiest, noisiest most polluted streets, that seems to be a strange place to put the most people, but single family homeowners always come first, no matter what municipality you are talking about.