Cost of housing in Canada

[mariomike]

Enabling and encouraging secondary and tertiary units shouldn't have to come at the cost of trampling good practices and granting carte blanche to do stupid things.

For those who bothered to read it, I believe that is the position of the Association.

It is the SARA/SARG position that there are significant drafting problems and a failure to properly consider impacts on the environment and the adjacent neighbours in these Permissions and Zoning By-Law Amendments. Expanding housing options can have a positive effect on Neighbourhoods if done in a manner which enhances the quality of life and character of the neighbourhood community. With the push and rush to roll out the projects of the Expanding Housing Options in Neighbourhoods document, neighbourhoods feel overwhelmed rather than excited by the arrival of such initiatives as Garden Suites. Let’s restore the balance and equity between the developers’ perceived right to build and the adjacent neighbours right to the safety, security, privacy and comfort of their homes.

For members of other home-owner associations, your YMMV regarding Garden Suites.

Some Other Thoughts and Questions about Garden Suites from our home-owners association:

1. Will the City protect the Green Landscape against the anticipated flooding of Climate Change's torrential rains?

2. Will City Planning identify topography such as flood planes etc. when refusing permissions for Garden Suites as suggested by the City Steering Group Planners in their consultation meetings with Resident Associations and their communities?

3. Will City Planning define the specifics of the size of Garden Suites to ensure that they are clearly an ancillary building and much smaller than the main residential building?

4. Will the emergency 1(one) metre wide exit/access be identified in the By-Law?

5. Will the City be proactive in providing the infrastructure (storm water and sewage drains) to support the overwhelming onslaught of increased density and hard landscape?

6. Will City Council pass a motion to cover city-wide communities with Flood Insurance when Insurance Companies refuse it to their customers as was the case in BC?

 

[Remius]

I saw similar attitudes when looking at a new build in Manotick. Nice little community outside Ottawa. Was a 15 min drive to work.

The homeowners were annoyed with the proposed building plans for homes expanding in that community. Expansion into no longer used farm land and such. They were worried about the changing nature of the community etc etc.

Or people living in upscale Glebe fighting tooth and nail against the Landsdowne development which included businesses and a high rise condo. Their counter proposal was a parc…

 

[Halifax Tar]

That is classic "garden variety" NIMBY-ism...

"I realize people need a place to live, but this community is special and can't change." Is just a polite middle-class way of saying not in my back yard.

You're free to feel that way, but don't complain when you can't get people to staff the local businesses because they can't find a place to live.

Allow me to play devils advocate.

If we have municipal/provincial rules or legislation as to what standard ones property is to be maintained then I expect that to be enforced. And if one cant look after ones own property or refuse to play by the rules then one should eventually lose that property if one cant or wont correct the problems.

I see it all the time, people don't comprehend that what they do in their yard affects all those around them. It effects values, clogs streets, brings in rodents and other vermin or birds ect ect.

 

[Good2Golf]

With garden suites sometimes sharing the same civic address, how do paramedics know where to go in emergencies?

I saw similar attitudes when looking at a new build in Manotick. Nice little community outside Ottawa. Was a 15 min drive to work.

Ah yes, hoity Manotikans…you should have come East a bit to Greely, Remius…significantly less « douleur-derrière » (and notably lower property taxes) Win-

 

[Remius]

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Ah yes, hoity Manotikans…you should have come East a bit to Greely, Remius…significantly less « douleur-derrière » (and notably lower property taxes) Win-

Just north of Greely now. I like Greely a lot but the wife wasn’t keen on well and septic.

 

[brihard]

Just north of Greely now. I like Greely a lot but the wife wasn’t keen on well and septic.

At least she got to trade it for the world’s shittiest Canadian Tire.

 

[Good2Golf]

Just north of Greely now. I like Greely a lot but the wife wasn’t keen on well and septic.

Me watering my lawn without paying the city for water treatment charges for something not being treated…

 

[Remius]

At least she got to trade it for the world’s shittiest Canadian Tire.

I go to the home hardware first lol.

And yes that Canadian Tire is horrendous.

 

[Good2Golf]

I go to the home hardware first lol.

The HH owner’s a really nice guy. Same here.

And yes that Canadian Tire is horrendous.

Abysmal…one of, if not the worst I’ve seen. I go to the Carlingwood CT if I need somethin from there…it’s pretty nice.

 

[lenaitch]

Many CTs are going that way. More and more product listed by corporate jammed into the same footprint, and now they have to shoehorn in Party City and an expanded pet department. I can never find spit and end up wandering the aisles - which I am convinced is their goal all along. Typically. the usually part-time staff are of little help. On the other hand, I was just in my new favourite Home Hardware in our new town. Looks like an old time hardware store - messy, but if they don't got it, it don't exist-type of store, and the staff know where everything is.

 

[YZT580]

regardless of anything else, traffic problems alone should put closure on any further development in the entire GTA. Find some way to get people to re-locate businesses, factories etc. completely away from the Golden Horseshoe. Driving truck across Toronto used to take me an hour from Oakville to Oshawa now at almost any time of the day it is 90 minutes minimum, often 2 hours. Rush hour starts at 6 a.m. and ends at 9:00 p.m. when the lanes start to close for construction. Fortunately my boss pays for the 407 for the truck. There is no room for any more people in Toronto

 

[Good2Golf]

regardless of anything else, traffic problems alone should put closure on any further development in the entire GTA. Find some way to get people to re-locate businesses, factories etc. completely away from the Golden Horseshoe. Driving truck across Toronto used to take me an hour from Oakville to Oshawa now at almost any time of the day it is 90 minutes minimum, often 2 hours. Rush hour starts at 6 a.m. and ends at 9:00 p.m. when the lanes start to close for construction. Fortunately my boss pays for the 407 for the truck. There is no room for any more people in Toronto

That’s rather anti-15 minute city of you…

YZT580: -1 social credit score

 

[brihard]

Many CTs are going that way. More and more product listed by corporate jammed into the same footprint, and now they have to shoehorn in Party City and an expanded pet department. I can never find spit and end up wandering the aisles - which I am convinced is their goal all along. Typically. the usually part-time staff are of little help. On the other hand, I was just in my new favourite Home Hardware in our new town. Looks like an old time hardware store - messy, but if they don't got it, it don't exist-type of store, and the staff know where everything is.

We’ve got a nice new Home Hardware down in our end of town- replaced an old and ridiculously decrepit location with a nice clean modern store that aims more at the building supply and renovation market. Solid leavening of older staff with lots of hands on experience. I’m amazed they haven’t knocked our clapped out little Canadian Tire out of business yet. This (fast growing) part of town could definitely do something better with that retail space.

 

[Brad Sallows]

CT has diversity of product. I've noticed that a couple of my favourite hobby stores have remained in business for decades because they support the golden triad: games, models, and comics/books.

 

[Halifax Tar]

Does the Home Hardware up there sell Hunting and Fishing supplies ?

 

[Humphrey Bogart]

Double whammy for those who, as the relenting crush of mortgage renewals at 2-3x their current rate come due, will find themselves potentially/likely taking a haircut on their house, then finding that rentals (because they no q1longer qualify for a mortgage of the house they had) aren’t any less expensive, and there are some no-duff tough times ahead.



The R-word is coming…how it got delayed so far I’m not sure. I spoke with my financial advisor and it’s likely a small-r mid-2024 start, and if it holds off a bit, say 2025Q1, will likely be BIG-R.

Recession is coming big time. We just issued layoff notices to a bunch of unionized workers and just got word that absolutely no overtime is authorized any longer without GM approval.

I live in a ghetto in Halifax (Fairview). But its as close to the peninsula as you can get without being on it. Dumps are selling for 6-700K, which is wild for us. We have less than 100K left on our mortgage, I think were silly not to sell now take that profit and turn it into acreage with a house outside the city.

This is a smart play. I am moving too a remote town in Northern Ontario in around a month and a half and the cost of housing and land is making it seem more and more like an extremely lucrative decision.

My spouse and I are planning on buying a smaller home for now but we are talking about potentially buying some land on a Lake here and starting the process of building our own home next summer.

 

[mariomike]

There is no room for any more people in Toronto

For readers with an interest in population growth statistics,

Demographics of Toronto - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[brihard]

Does the Home Hardware up there sell Hunting and Fishing supplies ?

A bit, but that’s not something that’s gonna keep this particular CT afloat. They’ve done the same shift as most CTs with a lot of the store now converted over to housewares. It’s simply too small a footprint;. It used to be a small ‘edge of town/semi rural’ store with no real competition, but now with everything growing and more stores and services going in, more of us are going elsewhere for different things. It could be a great space for something different.

 

[YZT580]

For readers with an interest in population growth statistics,

Demographics of Toronto - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

you have proven my point (above) but I didn't realize it was that bad. 7 million plus residents and only one way to traverse from east to west unless you have a spare 60 bucks in your wallet to pay for the 407 (each way)

 

[Remius]

A bit, but that’s not something that’s gonna keep this particular CT afloat. They’ve done the same shift as most CTs with a lot of the store now converted over to housewares. It’s simply too small a footprint;. It used to be a small ‘edge of town/semi rural’ store with no real competition, but now with everything growing and more stores and services going in, more of us are going elsewhere for different things. It could be a great space for something different.

There is a SAIL not too far and Cabella’s further west. And Canadian Tire on Heron or Greenbank has better hunting and fishing supplies than the CT in our end.

For context this is what that ugly CT is competing with: