The dark side of Halifax’s population boom

A few years ago I was flying into Seoul, South Korea, after a long flight over the North Pole.

Looking out the window, I saw a city covered by a forest of highrise buildings that stretched on and on.

As the plane gradually lowered on its way to the airport, I realized these buildings were residential housing.

For a gal from little ole Halifax, the density seemed unfathomable. But this is how people live in megacities like Seoul with a population of about 10 million.

The mental image of that forest of residential highrises has lingered in my memory.

I don’t think Halifax will ever be a megacity with housing forests like Seoul, but proposed zoning changes will push the density of this city to another level and transform the character of this city.

Last year, Halifax was approved for $79 million from the federal housing accelerator fund. It is supposed to address a national housing crisis with the fast-track construction of thousands of new residential units.

The city could see 200,000 new residential units in the urban core and in suburban neighbourhoods.

Halifax is in the midst of a population boom that has made it one of the fastest-growing cities in the country. In the past, population growth rates of 14 per cent might have seemed like a dream come true.

But this boom has come with a dark side too.

There is now a shortage of 20,000 units and the vacancy rate is around one per cent, resulting in rocketing rents and a housing crunch.

The federal government has decided to go at lightning speed and offer municipalities the carrot of money.

To be eligible, they have to remove planning processes like extensive public consultation which slow the pace of development.

Halifax has taken the bait and is pushing forward with zoning changes which will allow sevento nine-storey buildings along transit routes.

Individual lots would be allowed to have four residential units in urban areas which are served with city water and sewer. In the urban core areas, the allowed number is eight.

This will produce dramatic changes to single-family residential neighbourhoods.

Residents in these neighbourhoods aren’t all happy with these proposals. They have signed petitions and voiced complaints that this densification will alter the integrity of their neighbourhoods and homes.

They are raising red flags about demands on city infrastructure – things like traffic congestion, noise, pollution and the integrity of neighbours.

The city has received emails – some supportive, many critical of these changes. A big issue is the speed of these changes and the lack of public consultation.

People who lived in neighbourhoods for years and paid their taxes feel like they are being zoned up by city councillors who have their eye on the money and are happy to ramrod this thing through.

If you think the rush hour traffic in Halifax is bad now, just wait until thousands of new homes are added to the city. Hello, gridlock.

And what about the transit system? We can’t get enough people to run the buses and ferries now. How is an undeveloped transit system going to move all of these new residents around the city?

There will also be new demands on water and sewer system.

These questions have not been answered in this fast-track plan. Nor does it address the fact that many housing developments have already been approved and are stalled due to high interest rates, a shortage of labour and supply chain issues.

There are also underutilized areas like parking lots that could be used to build housing rather than jamming more units into the residential neighbourhoods.

This money should be used to develop those areas and build up the infrastructure first. But that is not the approach.

This plan will have permanent consequences and once buildings start going up, there will be no going back.

There will be one opportunity for public feedback in May.

How is an undeveloped transit system going to move all of these new residents around the city?