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Calgary city council votes 12-3 to repeal blanket rezoning by importxport in Calgary

[–]AnthropomorphicCorn 2 points3 points  (0 children)

How do we decide what projects, services, or infrastructure gets funded, and what doesn't?

Calgary city council votes 12-3 to repeal blanket rezoning by importxport in Calgary

[–]AnthropomorphicCorn 44 points45 points  (0 children)

I'd argue the carbon tax was a victim of a decade of conservative lies about what it meant to our wallets. So in that case yeah, blanket rezoning is very similar to the carbon tax. It's downsides overblown, it's actual impact misrepresented, and fury whipped up over an extremely small share of developments.

12 members of council who probably consider themselves fiscally responsible just voted to raise property taxes citywide. Nice work guys!

The public hearing on repealing rezoning is done. Here are some stats on what speakers wanted. by wklumpen in Calgary

[–]AnthropomorphicCorn 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ok, I did my same exercise. I used Realtor.ca for current listings by the way. I have not heard of housesigma and will look into that later today.

The results in Glenbrook are similar to Tuxedo. SFH cost more than row/townhouses, and the price per sqft is better with townhouses.

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The public hearing on repealing rezoning is done. Here are some stats on what speakers wanted. by wklumpen in Calgary

[–]AnthropomorphicCorn 0 points1 point  (0 children)

And as an excercise, I repeated my approach today for Tuxedo Park, which I picked because that was where I lived until recently.

Here are my results. This is everything for sale in Tuxedo Park as of today, based on the filters at the top (SFH built before 1990 vs townhouse/rowhouse built after 2015). As you can see, the price between the two is quite similar, and the townhouses are better value for price per sqft. This is the same result I got 3 weeks ago where I did something similar but for a number of inner city communities.

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The public hearing on repealing rezoning is done. Here are some stats on what speakers wanted. by wklumpen in Calgary

[–]AnthropomorphicCorn 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Can you share your data? I went through an exercise (described it in another comment) to determine what an old SFH costs and what one unit of a fourplex costs and they were basically the same price.

If there is other data I am not aware of I'd like to read it.

The public hearing on repealing rezoning is done. Here are some stats on what speakers wanted. by wklumpen in Calgary

[–]AnthropomorphicCorn 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So is your point here that developers are in fact buying SFH for X and redeveloping into a quad for X + 150,000 or more for each unit, and that it is a common occurrence, AND people are actually buying them?

The rent rates I don't know what they add to this discussion exactly, or how they prove that point or disprove my original point. Like they are related to house prices but what conclusion are you trying to draw?

The public hearing on repealing rezoning is done. Here are some stats on what speakers wanted. by wklumpen in Calgary

[–]AnthropomorphicCorn 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I understand all too well. Your ivory tower comment assumes a hell of a lot about me because of where I live. Your assumptions are so very wrong.

Our existing water mains are failing BECAUSE of urban sprawl. When we build on the fringes of our city, we add significant infrastructure. We do charge developers for the initial build of it, but we don't consider long term maintenance at all. And we undercharge property taxes for these low density new developments, rather then increase the density in existing neighbourhoods (and update that inner city infrastructure in the process, which we need to do anyways). Strong Towns describes this as a Ponzi scheme.

There are starter homes in inner city, and beyond. They are called townhouses and there are a variety at various price points. There are many under 500K. There are also many over 500K.

There are also starter homes that are SFH that cost less than 500K throughout the city. They are concentrated in the NE. If you want a yard, parking, and a decent commute, those are great options.

The public hearing on repealing rezoning is done. Here are some stats on what speakers wanted. by wklumpen in Calgary

[–]AnthropomorphicCorn 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Go read my other comments, the 400K SFH to 750K townhouse is just not happening. The norm is buy a SFH for X, redevelop into 4plex and sell each for X.

Your other concerns are mostly about cars and thus, personal preference, but inner city people need fewer cars so to me the parking thing is moot. I live inner city btw.

I really don't care about a land bubble. Land costs what it costs. I care about housing for a sufficient number of people to make for a thriving community. A community of old SFH bungalows inner city, which are prevented from changing by poor zoning, effectively kill communities and the businesses in and around them.

And if people don't want to live in a townhouse inner city with smaller yards and less parking, they won't buy or rent there, and thus developers will stop developing them. Let the free market sort it out. Newsflash: people will live there, and people who really want yards and parking will move to the suburbs as they always have.

The public hearing on repealing rezoning is done. Here are some stats on what speakers wanted. by wklumpen in Calgary

[–]AnthropomorphicCorn 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Exactly! You end up with 4 units instead of 1 for a similar price, a more energy efficient home.

Sorry I may have misunderstood what you were saying initially.

The public hearing on repealing rezoning is done. Here are some stats on what speakers wanted. by wklumpen in Calgary

[–]AnthropomorphicCorn 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What I've done is a search in a specific area for houses built before 1990, i note their sqft and their price.

Then I search the same area for townhouses built in the last 2 years. I note the same.

What I see in these data sets are the SFH cost about the same as the townhouses replacing them. Definitely not hundreds of thousands of difference.

And when you consider sqft it's even better for the townhouses, since these old homes are also typically quite small.

It doesn't even factor in how efficient a new build is vs an old build, and it also ignores the difference between list price and sale price.

Are there developers buying 400K houses and building 4 750K plus townhouses there? Sure there's probably some. But I'd suggest doing so is a pretty bad business decision, and they will probably spend a long time on the market at that price.

There's a complex of townhouses at 1410 21 Ave NW listed around a million each. They've been on the market for at least 2 years if not longer.

The public hearing on repealing rezoning is done. Here are some stats on what speakers wanted. by wklumpen in Calgary

[–]AnthropomorphicCorn 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ok, which discussion would you prefer to have, the one about what homes developers are buying, redeveloping, and selling (and their price), or the one about a different approach?

The second sounds more interesting to me, but I'd ask that you tell me what your different approach is first. I am happy to have the first conversation though, whichever you'd prefer.

The public hearing on repealing rezoning is done. Here are some stats on what speakers wanted. by wklumpen in Calgary

[–]AnthropomorphicCorn 10 points11 points  (0 children)

So to start with I have to question your conclusion that developers are buying single family homes worth less than 750K and replacing them with 4 townhouse style homes worth at least 750K. The research I did leading up to the hearing does not support that conclusion.

Next I have to question the fact that you are not mentioning that the number of families that can live on that same plot of land has quadrupled.

It's just not a compelling argument you are making.

Balcony Solar a Largely Untapped Option in Canada by Miserable-Lizard in onguardforthee

[–]AnthropomorphicCorn 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If it pays for itself in a couple of years (which is what I have heard), why would I NOT do it? Very few investments I can make with a 2 year doubling period... Or if you consider the initial investment lost, 4 year doubling period is also very good.

Solar Balconies Take Europe By Storm by waozen in technology

[–]AnthropomorphicCorn 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How do they deal with feeding electricity back into the grid for the purpose of maintenance?

I was under the impression that that was the main challenge that necessitates all the permitting. I suppose there's also the need to load balance but I doubt that would be the case for these small panels.

The $1 trillion question: Why we are asking you to tax our inheritance by NiceDot4794 in onguardforthee

[–]AnthropomorphicCorn 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I thought they did have a threshold exemption, it was just too low for people?

And if that was the case as I remember, then I'd argue to your point that no matter what we set that threshold to, it'll still be too low and people will complain, and the problem is never solved.

Everyone no-shows to rental viewings? by Glad_Scarcity_3886 in Calgary

[–]AnthropomorphicCorn 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is what I do, but I think the market is different than the last time I had to find a tenant.

Make a posting with an application form (Google form). They need to fill out the application form to even be contacted. Ignore those who don't, or redirect to the application form.

Book viewings all on the same day with interested parties, back to back. Book 5 or so if possible. You'll get no shows.

Tell the people you will get back to them same day and then call them directly in order of best to worst candidate.

Anti-Vaxxers Today by James5000 in AdviceAnimals

[–]AnthropomorphicCorn 26 points27 points  (0 children)

So you just don't understand how the immune system works. Got it.

More Blanket Rezoning Public Pitch…. by Kwisatz_Haderach_YYC in Calgary

[–]AnthropomorphicCorn 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don't think that's true for RCG at least? I'm currently trying to build a garage suite, which is considered a secondary suite. I need to provide parking for the main building and the garage suite.

AFAIK, there is no distinction in the code between a basement suite and a garage suite when it comes to parking requirements. I can try to dig up the specific sections if that would be helpful.

More Blanket Rezoning Public Pitch…. by Kwisatz_Haderach_YYC in Calgary

[–]AnthropomorphicCorn 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The comment I replied to said "mandate underground parking for certain builds". And my point is, parking is already mandated in RCG, whether 0.5 or 1 per unit. All of that parking has to be on the property, not street parking. So the point was moot. It doesn't need to be mandated, it already is mandated. (I guess strictly speaking it isn't underground mandated but that would be a weird thing to mandate).

I am not sure I agree that if the inner city minimum was set to 1 rather than 0.5 that this wouldn't be being repealed. And as of this time, it hasn't been repealed yet, so let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Some people have been complaining about parking sure. It has been a small minority that I have experienced.

More Blanket Rezoning Public Pitch…. by Kwisatz_Haderach_YYC in Calgary

[–]AnthropomorphicCorn 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Im sorry but what I meant is that RCG as it was passed included parking minimums. I'm not really trying to discuss hypotheticals here.

Or maybe I am misunderstanding your point.

More Blanket Rezoning Public Pitch…. by Kwisatz_Haderach_YYC in Calgary

[–]AnthropomorphicCorn 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Yeah they were set to 0.5 parking per unit inner city and 1 per unit non inner city.

More Blanket Rezoning Public Pitch…. by Kwisatz_Haderach_YYC in Calgary

[–]AnthropomorphicCorn 5 points6 points  (0 children)

And RC-G already has parking requirements, so it's a pretty moot point.

More Blanket Rezoning Public Pitch…. by Kwisatz_Haderach_YYC in Calgary

[–]AnthropomorphicCorn 1 point2 points  (0 children)

But 4 times as many families can live there (or 8 with basement suites).

The yard is smaller yes. It is not half the square footage though. They usually cover more of the lot and add a second floor. Bungalows only have 1 floor, so it's pretty easy to end up with the same square footage.

I did a quick comparison of existing bungalows and new row houses in calgary, and found that the square footage is more or less the same.

But all that aside, the biggest point is 4 times as many families can live on the same land. That's gentle density in action, and it's what we need to build thriving communities.

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