Now’s the time to turn NIMBY into YIMBY
Communities in the GTA are growing up and not out as residential development follows Ontario’s intensification policies.
However, many residents in existing communities like their neighbourhoods the way they are and don’t want change. This means more development projects are facing opposition.
The growing chants of NIMBY are adding to the GTA’s housing supply shortage. The not-in-my-backyard objections cause delays and increase costs that are ultimately passed on to people buying new homes.
Developers don’t just build what they want. Government policies and plans at all levels dictate how land can be used and where and how development happens.
Ten years ago, the province created the Greenbelt and introduced the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe.
It changed how development occurs by mandating intensification and requiring four out of 10 new housing units to be built within existing communities.
Those new units are necessary to house the GTA’s growing population. Each year, the region grows by about 100,000 people due to im- migration and growing families.
In accordance with policy, our industry has been building to a more intensive pattern of development. Today we are building at least as many highrise multi-family homes as ground-related single family homes.
Unfortunately, there is little public understanding of — and even less support for — intensification.
When the province’s policies were introduced, the building industry encouraged the government to educate people about how and why their neighbourhoods would change.
We have yet to see anything that helps residents better understand why more buildings and more people are now in their communities.
It is critical that the home-building and land-development industry communicate and share information early in the development process to help residents properly respond to proposed changes. We also need to help community stakeholders understand the goals and benefits of intensification and specific projects.
We all want our communities to thrive. New development and neighbourhood renewal helps that happen with more homes and more housing choices. More people in established neighbourhoods means they can support more amenities, such as shops and restaurants.
All this leads to property value increases and when local governments collect more property taxes, they can invest in public parks and transit.
To help keep the GTA growing, we need housing and we need to keep working together to create thriving, complete communities. We need to find ways to turn NIMBY to YIMBY — yes-in-my-backyard.
To help improve public awareness of these issues, BILD worked with the Star to create public education material that you might have noticed in the GTA section of today’s paper.
There are also a couple of animated videos about turning NIMBY to YIMBY. They explain in a straightforward and fun way why are our neighbourhoods are changing and how development can benefit everyone. Check them out on youtube.com/bildgta and on thestar.com Bryan Tuckey is president and CEO of the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) and is a land-use planner who has worked for municipal, regional and provincial governments. Find him at twitter.com/ bildgta, facebook.com/bildgta and bildblogs.ca.