It's critical that rezoning builds more homes

Every generation needs to have a place to live, writes

The housing crisis will not magically disappear without bold action. Every day, 60 new people move into Calgary, totalling around 22,000 more people who need homes every year in Calgary.

Continuous greenfield suburban developments cannot solve this issue. We need to make it easier for more homes to be built everywhere.

Demand is outpacing supply, which results in higher housing prices, bidding wars on homes that hit the market and dozens of people lining up for the hope of an apartment they might be able to afford. Accounts of single mothers sleeping in their cars with their kids, or of seniors foregoing medication as their rents spiked, have filled news headlines for the past year. More than 80,000 households in Calgary cannot afford their rent, and pay upwards of 50 per cent of their income toward housing costs. Thousands of Calgarians are at risk of falling into homelessness.

Without action to increase the supply of homes throughout the city, this dire situation will worsen. The housing crisis will continue to spill over into our streets, workplaces and classrooms. The effects on our labour market, public health system and educational institutions will be profound.

The immediate effects are obviously pressing, but the long-term pathways we are establishing for our city and many of our generational challenges needs consideration.

It is a demographic reality that a large cohort of Calgarians is entering retirement age. Many within this generation settled in the postwar boom of single-detached homes. The issue confronting this generation in the coming decades is aging-in-place, within the communities they have known for so long.

While some argue that large homes for retirees are necessary for hobbies and souvenirs, the economic and practical realities for most Calgarians are such that a reduced footprint is the sensible and affordable option. We need to make sure diverse types of homes are built in every community so that seniors can age in place within their neighbourhoods, staying connected to friends and family, for retirees of all income brackets.

Younger generations, too, are facing a stark reality when considering their future in the city. Over several decades, the cost of housing has increased dramatically. In Calgary in 1999, the benchmark home price was three times the median household income. This means that it would take the equivalent of three years of total household income to pay for a home. Today, the benchmark home price is more than five times the median household income. We are pricing future generations out of the city and creating a more polarized society in the process.

Shutting out future generations could have deep repercussions. Without even a hope of stable, affordable housing options, popular resentment could pose real challenges to our society, threatening the existing cohesion that makes life in our city possible. An internal RCMP report, titled Whole-of-government Five-year Trends For Canada, recently concluded that “many Canadians under 35 are unlikely ever to be able to buy a place to live.

The fallout from the decline in living standards will be exacerbated by the fact that the difference between the extremes of wealth is greater now in developed countries than it has been at any time in several generations.”

Cities are engines of change, and without planning proactively we risk reacting to even greater challenges poorly. Will we allow only larger, more expensive homes to take the place of these older homes? This is the path that Vancouver and Toronto pursued, and it has had terrible effects on affordability. The alternative is to plan for neighbourhoods and a city that includes all generations of Calgarians in its vision.

Rezoning will give opportunities to younger generations to buy a home, and will allow for older generations to stay within their communities as they age.

Alice Lam works in commercial real estate but is also an active community volunteer. She helped create social enterprises such as Calgary Community Fridge, the Good Neighbour Community Market, and Good Thrift and Ren Health Collective.