Broadway Plan: Why am I worrying about neighbourhood character when we have a housing crisis?
The Public Hearing for three Broadway Plan towers continues tonight.
housing crisis
Well, if I thought building a lot of 18 storey buildings would solve the housing crisis, I might be less concerned. But I know, and many of my colleagues know that all these towers will do little to solve the housing crisis. But they will do serious damage to the surrounding neighbourhood character, and upset the lives of lower income seniors, families, and others living in the older buildings thar will be demolished to make way for the towers. So why is this happening? I'm afraid it's a fault in the Broadway Plan.
- Another question is just how many more below market units will be built and how will they compare with what's there now?
- While it has two bedrooms and two bathrooms, do you see an entry closet? Any built-in bedroom closets? A linen or broom closet? Storage?
- Now let's look at the kitchen. What's that tiny space beside the sink? There's hardly room for a dishwasher. So where are the drawers? The cupboards? Yes, there's one under the sink. And that might be a pantry, but that's not a functional kitchen layout for a family with children. By the way, where is the washer and dryer?
- Here's the 3-bedroom version, likely for a family with two or three children. Yes, this one has a storage room - the space is excluded from the floor space area FSR calculations - this is useful space since once again, there's no entry closet, no built-in bedroom closets, a tiny kitchenette and again, no washer and dryer. What's going on here?
- Another absurdity is that this design is not just for the affordable housing. It appears to be the design for the market rental housing as well. Urban land economists and developers expect units like this will have to rent for $5.50+ per sq.ft. per month. That's $4,000 per month and more, plus parking, if there is parking, for this suite.
- To be honest, I'm less concerned about this since market tenants paying $4000 plus per month can move. The lower income households who are lucky enough to get a below-market unit, even one with no closets and a tiny kitchen don't have the choice.
So what's the solution? I hope Council will listen to the concerns, not just from those who might be considered NIMBYs, but also all the planning professionals who know this is wrong. Hopefully, it will agree that a moratorium on new towers more than 2 blocks away from Broadway is warranted, so that the plan can be modified to allow a different type of densification of these streets. There is plenty of opportunity to build new housing. Maintaining the status quo is not an option. But neither is a proliferation of towers off Broadway.