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'Smart' plan means getting closer to our neighbours
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Alexandra Zabjek
1 N; D7 T( T* j0 P, t& ZThe Edmonton Journal
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' G w6 G/ H* i1 M6 X& x8 KMonday, May 21, 2007% y% z C2 g9 ]" u+ p9 B- I' Z
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EDMONTON - It used to be, just a few years ago, that couples tiptoed towards home ownership by heading to the suburbs.
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2 F( r ?' T8 @# WThese days, house-hunting couples are likely less concerned about yards and fences than they are about underground parking and noisy neighbours.0 f$ a; @5 |. Q0 P, T1 X1 F
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With single-detached homes soaring to above $400,000 last month, first-time homebuyers are increasingly looking at condominiums and townhouses. And the building industry, struggling with rising costs, is constructing more multi-family units.
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"For a number of folks looking to get into the market and they want to go new, their first home is not going to be that little single detached house," says Richard Goatcher, market analyst for the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation's Edmonton office.2 |8 V6 j! S2 a
5 O6 R4 p, K; n% b4 C% H"It's now going to be either a townhouse or condo.". P( n* ^3 k+ @" f0 [
6 O# s u3 T3 k3 K9 zAt first glance, the statistics are surprising: single-detached housing starts dropped a whopping 57 per cent between March 2006 and March 2007, while the number of multi-- X( Z9 L3 w4 Y$ G$ k1 f* @4 x; K1 q
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family housing starts inched upwards by 6.3 per cent in the same period.
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8 o' D) b0 d! \4 @, yPart of the massive drop in single housing starts can be explained by the delay in work caused by last year's early winter, says Goatcher. Also, 2006 was one of the strongest years for single-detached housing starts, setting a high benchmark for 2007.
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$ a- o' U. u1 p9 b% n+ u1 I6 b9 ^! lBut higher density housing is a key part of the city's "Smart Choices" plan, which aims to intensify developments in established areas of the city. The idea is that its cheaper to provide infrastructure, and also easier to provide opportunities like walkable neighbourhoods and good public transit.5 Q+ z$ y, [: i
7 h9 X: N2 M' r$ J- f) I1 USmart Choices program would prefer to have most of this condo construction occur in established neighbourhoods; in fact, much of it is happening in the city's outer reaches.
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About 25 per cent of new multi-family starts occurred in the city's southwest corner, south of 62nd Avenue and west of the Calgary Trail. About 25 per cent occurred in downtown. The rest was spread through the city./ w: h% q" V6 |+ v6 s1 B8 _
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Expanding outwards, and not upwards, has always been a natural thing for Prairie cities, which are not hemmed in by geography. Academics often predict that people searching for cheap land and cheap houses will happily move to far-flung suburbs.4 U$ I X' W w$ q
2 k, R* W3 S! x! g2 u, zBut there is a delicate tipping point.
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"As cities grow and the periphery expands, then people will say that the new suburban house they can buy is so far out from the centre that they might start to consider to accept inner-city, higher-density housing," says Andrejs Skarburskis, an economist at the School of Urban and Regional Planning at Queen's University.
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. d0 m) B0 e' CFor that to happen here, Skarburskis says, the city would have to have "very high prices for a very long time," but says that's not likely.
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: a8 c+ [' p; q4 o a& {The other factor that will slow inner-city densification is resistance from those already living there.
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That's the case in the west end, where a proposal to build five condo towers at 142nd Street and Stony Plain Road, is being fought by neighbouring Glenora and Grovenor, the first designated "Smart Choice" communities.
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: F9 B7 R8 ~4 M, yCity officials are working to assure mature neighbourhoods that Smart Choices aren't to be feared.
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Edmonton should be accommodating 35 per cent of new growth within mature neighbourhoods to have long-term impacts. That's about double what is currently happening.
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"Smart growth is about intensification and increased density, but there are conditions," says Greg Barker, the Smart Choices program director .
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"Increased density must come with improved design and improved amenities," he says. "(Developers) have to give something back to the community."1 e1 H7 G! @9 Z7 B) ~
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azabjek@thejournal.canwest.com1 Y* _* E1 g6 O G' s: G
v: I, y3 k5 Z- |' R; k) ~: vFirst-time buyers: How'd they do it?* Q4 b" }) c* ]6 C7 N
6 F2 a E& s {) `* Tthey paid: $178,000
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They Got: a 600-sq.-ft condo. U, e4 s* c1 F* K- q
$ |3 k0 E( V. e3 M9 @5 BWhen: October 2006: Q0 W0 E' [& y0 W7 }+ ~* }4 U
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Megan MacKenzie and Jason Carnew admit they weren't in an ideal position to buy a condominium last year. But for MacKenzie, a PhD student, and Carnew, an actor, the real estate market seemed like one of the few ways they could profit from an economy heavily tilted towards the oil and gas industries.
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% G y+ T$ _: X; s"The boom doesn't really affect us," MacKenzie says. "My salary will be the same whether the oil crashes or goes up."
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9 W0 J8 }0 @9 h: tLast year they sold their car, gave up Carnew's cellphone and cashed in their RRSPs to assemble a down-payment for a downtown condominium. It's a small place with a huge balcony, and, given how prices have skyrocketed, a bargain for the recently wed couple.( o. r/ Q! y% C& v) l3 J: R
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"Our price range doesn't exist anymore," says MacKenzie, "except maybe in a trailer park."
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6 M4 U+ j5 \8 a; F; SWith rents rising, the couple, both 28, figured they'd be paying almost the same amount for a mortgage.
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" a" j8 M! Q8 N8 wThe couple realized they had "missed the boat" by not buying before prices really started to climb, but also knew they wouldn't lose.
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"We just figured that with the economy, it would be fine for another few years," MacKenzie said. "I think we'll be long gone before any housing crash. We don't wish it for anyone else in Edmonton, but if it crashes in five years, we won't be here."
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: v1 q( k2 Y# f% b# F1 [- xAlexandra Zabjek, Journal Staff Writer# ]3 l$ Q7 ]! Q! R4 \% q/ ]7 \, u) e \
© The Edmonton Journal 2007 |
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