Solution to housing crisis goes beyond governments, urban designer says

If the housing crisis is going to be resolved, it’s going to take an all-hands-on-deck approach beyond what different levels of government can do, says a well-known urban designer and educator.

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Speaking to an audience of stakeholders at the Stratford and Perth Housing Symposium Tuesday morning, Christine Hempel said Canada’s housing crisis has become worse than other parts of the world, including Europe and the United States, where interest rates have remained more stable.

“This is an unprecedented crisis. It’s really serious,” said Hempel, who holds a PhD in design for sustainable communities and landscapes. “The wait lists are already impossible long, and the situation is probably going to become more serious.”

Hempel noted housing starts had dipped in the Greater Toronto Area, while those who bought homes when interest rates were low during the post-pandemic period will be up for mortgage renewal in the next year or two.

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“A lot of people will be facing a doubling of their monthly payments, which, if they overextended to buy an inflated house, is going to probably mean a lot of foreclosures, and it means that a lot more people will be joining the wait list ,” Hempel said.

However, Hempel still seemed encouraged by at least one conversation she had Tuesday.

“I already spoke to someone this morning who said, ‘we have to do something.’ It’s amazing because, most of the time, it’s ‘they need to do something.’ The UN, those in charge past the federal level, (the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corp.), the province, the county, the municipality — they have to do something.’ We’re in a crisis. They’re not going to bring housing to Stratford in time. They are busy. They’re doing everything they can. They know we’re in a crisis. It’s not going to come in time,” said Hempel, who has designed several affordable housing projects in Owen Sound.

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Hempel’s comments come on the heels of a recent report by United Way Perth-Huron that showed 62 per cent of Perth-Huron households cannot afford the benchmark single-family home while one in four households cannot afford to rent a one-bedroom apartment at 2023 asking prices.

During her remarks, Hempel provided a number of solutions to combat the ongoing housing crisis. She mentioned building on in-city brownfields, where developments had previously been sited, or greyfields, which are typically underused or abandoned commercial properties. Hempel pointed to the recent redevelopment of a former Canadian Tire property in Brantford, which she said is set to house 1,000 people and is now 98 per cent sold.

“Whether it’s affordable or market or mixed, there’s a really good opportunity there. We used to think that you had to provide parking for every car that might ever be there on Christmas Eve and, even then, you’ll drive and that’s just not the case,” Hempel said.

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Locally, a proposal from the BMI group would transform the former Krug factory site at Trinity and King streets into 382 one- to three-bedroom apartment units in 11 buildings. This application is still being considered by the city.

Hempel also spoke out in favor of changing zoning bylaws, which she said can be discriminatory against apartment buildings and people who rent.

“The land-use segregation and lack of being able to put apartment buildings in most of our residential areas — this isn’t about building form. If we were discriminating against really huge skyscrapers, that would be written in a zoning laws — no huge skyscrapers or nothing above a certain size or mass or scale. No, it’s just against apartments,” she said.

These zoning rules that make building apartment units difficult often include parking standards, lot line setbacks, height limits and a lack of flexibility, Hempel explained. While a planner might personally like a development plan, their hands are often tied by these zoning bylaws, she said.

“Our policies are saying, ‘No, we don’t really want that. We don’t really want people who rent in this neighborhood.’ And this neighborhood turns out to be most of Stratford,” she said.

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