Quote:
Originally Posted by hipster duck
Also, think of the jobs that were formed downtown vs. in the suburbs. Downtown jobs are msotly well-paid, professional FIRE type jobs. Suburban job growth was mostly from warehouse and fulfillment centre workers getting paid $20/hour.
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Anyway, my point is that you can't solve the GTA's housing issues by removing the greenbelt and building sprawl. You're always presenting that as some kind of panacea.
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Claiming that most downtown jobs are FIRE type is quite an exaggeration. Certain jobs (legal, accounting, finance sectors) sure, but most downtown jobs are just jobs.
And removing the greenbelt won't solve all our problems, but it is an incredibly important step we need to take. The sooner people realize that the better. Greenbelts are not normal. There isn't a single healthy, growing, affordable city in the world that has a Greenbelt around it.
Toronto (GTA) is a decent place to live, but it isn't even close to good enough (low wages, shitty weather) to justify $1.5M detached houses. The only reason they cost that much is because of the greenbelt and places to grow acts.
And finally, even if your assertion was true, that most job growth in the 905 was from lower wage jobs, that doesn't change the fact the 905 has grown in population, and these people need to live somewhere. Having arbitrary pointless density rules that cities need to follow, and locking 50km of land in all directions out of development, means that these people need to compete for ever-scarcer homes.
I'm well aware that the greenbelt isn't everything, but it is the lowest hanging fruit, and the easiest one to solve.
We also need to overhaul the LTB (remove rent control, allow landlords to evict tenants for non payment), put pressure on cities to approve development apps faster, and punish cities that use the housing crisis as an excuse to jack up permit fees.
It is really really simple:
- let developers build and sell what there is demand for in the market
- let landlords evict tenants who don't pay
- people need to pay their fair share for common resources (property taxes)
Do that and the housing crisis will be a bad memory in 10 years.