Hamilton’s growth means changes in housing
Taller, more dense neighbourhoods are needed, as well as new communities
The housing landscape in Hamilton is changing and the city is swiftly growing. This is primarily due to the rapid population increase our region saw over the past decade, and to the growth the Golden Horseshoe will continue to see over the next 30 years. Hamilton is projected to grow from 584,000 residents today to 823,000 by 2051 (an increase of more than 40 per cent).
To provide enough housing, Hamilton needs to grow up, in and out: up — with taller buildings around transit and central arteries like Fennell Avenue or Upper James Street; in — with denser infill housing in existing neighbourhoods in Ancaster, Dundas, Stoney Creek, Flamborough and Glanbrook; and, out — with new complete communities built on existing and new greenfield sites at the edges of the city.
Hamilton needs to build more housing of all types. The constant challenge is to provide more homes while focusing on housing availability for more affordable starter homes as a key priority.
How and where new housing goes is a mix of market-demand and municipal growth planning. Growth planning is happening now with the city’s Growth Related Integrated Development Strategy (GRIDS) process to determine our future residential intensification rate. In total, we need to build 110,300 new homes to accommodate population growth by 2051. Once city council determines the intensification rate, planners will begin to chart our way forward through an official plan update that needs to conform with the provincial land needs assessment process and approved by the provincial government. If the official plan conforms with the provincial requirements for growth, Hamilton will continue growing up, in and out. Let’s have a look at each method for growth and see how housing options are expected to evolve over the next 30 years:
Hamilton is going to get taller, especially downtown and around transit stations throughout the city, including the Mountain and all of Hamilton’s former municipalities along commercial main streets. Increased heights and densities will support a car-free lifestyle, with more complete neighbourhoods featuring more amenities within walking or transit distance. A large portion of our city’s new and existing residents will live in high density communities. To accommodate this Hamilton will need to plan for more amenities like transit, parks, shops and recreation centers to support an urban lifestyle.
To accommodate our population growth in a sustainable way, residents will need to adapt to a more urban lifestyle and reduce car dependency. This should be reflected not only in tall apartment buildings but also in smaller, densely packed homes in existing neighbourhoods. The redevelopment of single-family homes to multi-family homes is one way the city can accommodate a significant amount of family-oriented low-rise missing middle homes with access to a yard on quiet residential streets. This can include gentle density projects in the form of secondary dwelling units, or legalizing (through as of right zoning) the redevelopment of single-family homes into multi-unit apartments at lower heights. Though this type of redevelopment will bring the biggest culture change to Hamilton residents, it’s important to work on this type of growth to provide a balance of housing opportunities within our community.
Suburban home building is more compact and energy efficient than ever. When planning for these new communities, housing types are increasingly dense, and surprisingly diverse — singles, for sure, but rowhomes, stacked and back-to-back townhomes are providing even more homes and density than you will find in older neighbourhoods. New communities in Hamilton are expected to provide a range of housing opportunities for new and existing residents, and an emphasis will be placed on building homes where jobs, schools, community services, and parks and recreation facilities are easily accessible. Building these entirely new neighbourhoods to the highest standards provides opportunities for renewable district energy, innovative stormwater management practices and even the potential for net zero (or carbon neutral) communities.
As our city grows and brings in many talented young students, families and workers, a growing portion of our population will live in an urban setting. The one thing that seems a certainty is that the absolute number of single-family homes in Hamilton will go down, as the total number of units our city needs goes up. In the end, people will continue to balance their housing needs with their wants, budgets and lifestyle desires associated with different types of homes in different areas of the city. We should do our part to ensure all neighbourhoods — tall, existing and new — accommodate this variety of residents’ desires without displacing Hamiltonians to more affordable communities outside the city.