In light of unaddressed issues such as stagnating wages, increased foreign investment and growing wealth disparity contributing to Richmond’s unaffordable housing, urban designer and university professor Patrick Condon told a small audience at Minoru Place, last Wednesday, that urban design can play a role in solving what he calls a social and economic “crisis.”
Condon, chair of the University of B.C.’s urban design program, spoke at a town hall — titled Sustainable Communities through Urban Design — initiated by councillors Chak Au and Ken Johnston of the Richmond Community Coalition.
Condon said stratifying properties in Richmond’s single-family neighbourhoods should be considered to provide more options for young families looking to buy property.
This would essentially mean densifying Richmond’s neighbourhoods in terms of number of units, while at the same time allowing more people to purchase property.
“I’m talking about a policy change,” said Condon.
Presently, Richmond City Council has directed the City of Richmond to maintain single-family home neighbourhoods. The city is now pushing developers — during rezoning applications — to build secondary suites in order to build up rental stock, something Richmond is in critical need of.
However, doing so does not address the desire and need for young families to buy property in single-family neighbourhoods.
Stratifying a property would mean allowing a property owner to sell a secondary suite. Or, one home could be refashioned into three or even four suites, said Condon.
“So neighbourhoods that are inaccessible to families now because they can’t afford the million-plus suddenly now have a housing option with a backyard, although it might be a smaller backyard because it’s one quarter of a lot not a whole lot,” added Condon.
This kind of development would not be a be-all-end-all solution, he noted. Other problems exist, such as wages not keeping pace with housing costs.
“The ratio between wages, which have stayed stable, and the cost of housing, which has increased by 300 per cent in 20 years, has thrown this whole thing out of whack. It’s a crisis situation that requires a response. We’ve never had this disparity between the wage levels and cost of home purchases since the region was formed,” said Condon.
“In the absence of a revolution nothing else is going to happen. The government doesn’t seem willing to come in,” said Condon.
Ergo, new homeowners would have to expect a smaller piece of the pie than their parents’ generation, he noted.
Condon told the audience while the issue of unaffordable housing is magnified in Metro Vancouver, it is also a problem being felt around the world.
“The disparity between what the middle class own and what the one per cent own is basically at the root of all this,” said Condon.
For now, at least from an urban planning perspective, cities have at least some choices available to them.
Coun. Au said it’s important to begin dialogue on the problem.
“This meeting was essential because of the growth pressures facing our community in the coming years,” said Au via Facebook.
Johnston echoed Au, noting “this is about ensuring future housing solutions provide the best possible options for our community.”
This was the Coalition’s second town hall on development and affordability. Its first town hall in August featured development and real estate experts Tsur Somerville and Bob Ransford.
