New communities and the impact of growth
It is time to move forward from past perceptions, writes Brian Hahn.
The demand for housing in Calgary is growing rapidly. Delivering new supply is imperative. New communities often run into roadblocks because of a lack of engagement with a key sector — greenfield developers and homebuilders. Suburban expansion is the swiftest, most cost-effective and well-planned method to introduce new housing supply.
On Wednesday, the city's infrastructure and planning committee will review developers' new community growth applications. Approval of these applications play the most significant role in delivering adequate housing supply, a necessity for maintaining housing affordability
As a result of outdated information, some still hesitate to support them. Here, we debunk common misconceptions about Calgary's new suburban communities. Myth: Calgary subsidizes sprawl and suburban development.
Reality: Developers pay 100 per cent of on-site and their full share of off-site infrastructure expenses. Taxpayers pay zero per cent. Former mayor Naheed Nenshi noted in a 2016 opinion column in the Herald: “We have fundamentally ended the development subsidy. For the first time, growth in all parts of the city will now compete on a level playing field, allowing for the market to work and homebuyers to see the true costs of their homes.”
His endorsement of growth covering its own costs is underscored by significant statistics. Since those comments, development charges (off-site levies), have surged by 41 per cent and water-related infrastructure levies by 62 per cent. During this period, Calgary's cumulative inflation was about 25 per cent.
Myth: New communities will impose higher operating costs on taxpayers than established areas.
Reality: Many city services such as police, transit, library and recreation are allocated in response to population growth, regardless of where that growth occurs. For infrastructure-based services such as water and wastewater, developer-funded new infrastructure for new communities yields cost-efficiency, integrates cutting-edge technology to bolster operational efficiency and reduces maintenance issues such as water leaks and pipe breaks. Densification and redevelopment in established areas often require infrastructure investment to accommodate the corresponding increases in population.
Myth: New communities are bad for the environment.
Reality: Homes built today are the most energy efficient and environmentally friendly yet. New communities are developed with sustainability and future needs in mind, integrating employment centres and hybrid work models, and prioritizing environmentally friendly construction practices. New communities promote a sustainable way of living.
Anticipating the shift toward a lower-carbon economy is important. Designing infrastructure to accommodate net-zero homes and electric vehicles from the outset can streamline the transition and reduce the challenges associated with retrofitting older communities.
Combining today's environmental standards with innovative solutions, new communities can serve as models of sustainable development by creating healthier and more efficient living environments.
Myth: New communities are sprawling developments for wealthy families.
Reality: New community density is higher than in most established and inner-city communities. They are master planned to provide the most affordable and diverse housing options available, and include apartments, row housing, duplexes and single-family homes. They are developed as complete communities that include commercial and employment opportunities close to home.
Myth: Established area redevelopment is the only solution to the housing supply crisis. Reality: It is simply not possible to accommodate the demand for housing supply in the established areas alone on the timetable it's needed. We need established area and new suburban community housing supply. In the recent discussion on the blanket rezoning bylaw, Coun. Andre Chabot stated it best that when it comes to established area redevelopment versus new community development, “it is not an `or'; it must be an `and.'” Limiting new housing supply in new or established areas unnecessarily reduces the supply of new homes, resulting in increased home prices.
We must move forward from past perceptions. We can no longer compare the new, innovative, affordable, fiscally and environmentally sustainable communities we are building today with the low-density, single-family home communities of the past.
Calgary's development industry is poised and ready to act, but they're waiting for the green light from council. New communities are an essential part of the solution to effectively address the housing supply crisis.