Surging housing prices in Iqaluit have many feeling hopeless

[Nite]

Originally Posted by Crawford

I thought those northern towns were growing bc of resource extraction.

They're basically Canadian versions of U.S. reservation towns? But with Amish/Hasidic style birth rates?

Their is no resource extraction near Iqaluit like i said earlier, it's a government town with high paying jobs and a centre for higher education in the north and a transport hub.

[WhipperSnapper]

Isn't Iqaluit less than 10,000 people? Calling it the fastest growing city in Canada can be easily misconstrued.

Homelessness is certainly serious given the freezing temperatures. Hopelessness from high housing costs ... that's living in Canada for the majority of Canadians.

[ue]

Originally Posted by SIGSEGV

Tromso is much milder. Cities in the "cold arctic" have all sorts of constraints that make it hard. Iqualuit looks pretty similar to Greenlandic cities like Sisimut
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sisimiut_panorama_in_summer_2010_(1).jpg

Not saying it's impossible to have better architecture, but the required above-ground pipelines and such don't make it easy!

The Greenlandic towns and cities are more aesthetically pleasing than Iqaluit for the most part, but even Greenland is milder than Nunavut. While less obvious compared with Northern Europe, it benefits from the warmth of the North Atlantic Current to some extent, which Eastern and Northern North America do not. The only places with similarly harsh climates to the Canadian Territories are in Siberia and the Russian Far East. And Antarctica.

However, Greenland is still cooler, and mostly permafrost. So I'm not sure if its mildness creates a built environment that is impossible for Iqlauit or other northern Canadian towns to mimic.

[Mister F]

Originally Posted by Nite

Iqaluit has plenty of multi family housing, more than you will find in other cities it size.
I am pretty sure most residence live in multiunit housing actually,

Just to put some numbers on it, 25% of Iqaluit households are single detached. 42% are in apartment buildings and the rest are townhouses, semis, etc. Source

Originally Posted by SIGSEGV

Tromso is much milder. Cities in the "cold arctic" have all sorts of constraints that make it hard. Iqualuit looks pretty similar to Greenlandic cities like Sisimut
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sisimiut_panorama_in_summer_2010_(1).jpg

Not saying it's impossible to have better architecture, but the required above-ground pipelines and such don't make it easy!

I'm not sure why it would be more difficult to build multi-unit housing in that type of climate than single detached. Seems like it would be easier to build one structure with 50 households than 50 separate structures.

Originally Posted by Nite

It's the capital and largest city in Nunavut, also the fastest growing city in Canada.
It's growing so fast that it can't keep up with any of its infrastructure needs right now.

In some ways some of Canada's smallest cities have a lot in common with its biggest.

[SIGSEGV]

Originally Posted by Mister F

I'm not sure why it would be more difficult to build multi-unit housing in that type of climate than single detached. Seems like it would be easier to build one structure with 50 households than 50 separate structures.

Not more difficult to build multi-unit housing, but probably more difficult to make it look good! (and I think they can't be packed close together due to snow-drifting considerations).

[Rico Rommheim]

Originally Posted by Manitopiaaa

Because people don't want to hear their neighbors fucking, or domestic abuse, or children crying at 3am. The same reasons why Americans pay premium for a single-family detached.

What a bizarre and ugly comment.

[Nite]

For those who didn't read the article, water in the most pressing need for Iqaluit to continue to grow.

Iqaluit's Mayor Kenny Bell, doesn't disagree that the city has dragged its feet on developing land for more housing. But he says the city's insufficient infrastructure has any future development at a standstill.

According to the City of Iqaluit's Housing Action Plan 2022 to 2031, "The City is in crisis with respect to its infrastructure, as there is a lack of sufficient utilities … transportation infrastructure and overall capacity to support additional housing development."

The quantity of water available for residents of Iqaluit is maxed out.

City of Iqaluit declares 2nd water emergency in 2 years
Iqaluit pitches $64M water reservoir to keep taps running
The city needs a new water source in order to have any more development and it will cost $180 million from the federal government to build it.

"We can't not get it [the money]," said Bell. "If we don't, Iqaluit ceases to grow and we'll be the same size forever, which you know, obviously is just not possible."

According to the Housing Action Plan, the city plans to develop 1,400 new housing units over the next 10 years starting Jan. 1, 2022.

Of those, 700 of these units will be below market affordable housing.

The plan says "the city needs to grow up, not out," and would densify housing in the downtown core.


Iqaluit Mayor Kenny Bell says historically, there has been 'really bad planning' in Iqaluit. (Travis Burke/CBC)
Bell says this would make the city more walkable and alleviate some of the city's traffic congestion.

"Historically, there has been really bad planning here [in Iqaluit]," said Bell.

Bell says in order to achieve the goals of the city's action plan, it will need the financial support of all levels of government and Inuit organizations.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/housing-iqaluit-infrastructure-1.6303663

Originally Posted by SIGSEGV

Not more difficult to build multi-unit housing, but probably more difficult to make it look good! (and I think they can't be packed close together due to snow-drifting considerations).

Most of what is built in Iqaluit is multi-family housing.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

Isn't Iqaluit less than 10,000 people? Calling it the fastest growing city in Canada can be easily misconstrued.

Indeed. It's barely a town by Canadian standards and hardly a city. It's an important settlement for Canada's territories and Nunavut as a whole but I wouldn't call it Canada's fastest growing city with any confidence.

[north 42]

Originally Posted by Rico Rommheim

What a bizarre and ugly comment.

Not a surprise considering who it’s from.

[Double L]

The housing crisis is a problem throughout all of Canada. Canada has a large amount of immigration and cannot keep housing construction up with demand because in Canada the federal government does not control the interest rate.

[Nite]

Originally Posted by Double L

The housing crisis is a problem throughout all of Canada. Canada has a large amount of immigration and cannot keep housing construction up with demand because in Canada the federal government does not control the interest rate.

Immigration has nothing to do with the housing issues in Canada, the population is only growing at 0.9% a year, one of the lowest rate of growths ever.

The problem has always been a lack of supply caused by municipalities refusing to build more housing. In the case of Iqaluit it's due to rapid population growth however.

[Nite]

Originally Posted by JHikka

Indeed. It's barely a town by Canadian standards and hardly a city. It's an important settlement for Canada's territories and Nunavut as a whole but I wouldn't call it Canada's fastest growing city with any confidence.

Sorry to break this to you but Iqaluit is classified as a city and has been for over 20 years.

On 1 January 1987, the name of the municipality was changed from "Frobisher Bay" to "Iqaluit" – aligning official usage with the name that the Inuit population had always used. (Many documents were made that referred to Iqaluit as Frobisher Bay for several years after 1987). In the non-binding 1995 Nunavut capital plebiscite, held 11 December, the residents of what would become the new territory selected Iqaluit (over Rankin Inlet) to serve as the future capital. On 19 April 2001, it was designated a city.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iqaluit

[C.]

Silly question… what is the population growth of this “city” since the last census. Both in percentage and real terms.

[C.]

List of American cities growing faster than.... Iqaluit, NU, the fastest growing city in Canada according to Nite.

Macon, Georgia
Frisco, Texas
Meridian, Idaho
McKinney, Texas
Kent, Washington
Lakewood, New Jersey
Irvine, California
Sugar Land, Texas
Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Pearland, Texas
League City, Texas
Concord, North Carolina
Menifee, California
Edinburg, Texas
Santa Clarita, California
Cary, North Carolina
Orlando, Florida
Gilbert, Arizona
College Station, Texas
Cape Coral, Florida
Clovis, California
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Charleston, South Carolina
Port St. Lucie, Florida
Roseville, California
Allen, Texas
Durham, North Carolina
Bellevue, Washington
Fort Worth, Texas