Québec has municipal elections on a set date every four years. Candidate campaigns are now in full swing with voting scheduled for November 7. Items high on the agendas in most municipalities – housing and population density. Focus Pointe-Claire I live in Pointe-Claire, an on-island suburb of Montréal. It has a lot going for it […]
Sociologist Ray Oldenburg coined the term “Third Place” in 1989. He defined home as the First Place and “the office / factory floor/ etc” the Second Place. Oldenburg’s Third Places were neither home space nor work space. Boundaries between work, home, and play fade Since 1989, information and communication technologies have helped fade the boundaries […]
Developers have their eyes set on Montréal’s Chinatown, a tiny but very accessible area of the city near the central business district. This distinctive neighbourhood just a short walk from Old Montreal, University of Montréal Hospital Centre, and McGill University, anchors Montréal’s Chinese community. Additionally, it is an area of the city where people congregate. […]
Any serious strategy for the ambitious development of Targeted Housing requires affordable land. Private developers scour city neighbourhoods to find the best locations. In many municipalities, market forces have driven up prices to “beyond affordable”. Post acquisition, developers spend years seeking various zoning changes for usage and density through height. Without these changes most planned […]
Canada, the United States, and Australia each have a growing affordable housing crisis. We have seen the headlines: Canada’s Housing Bubble Is Getting Way Worse, And Young People Are Screwed, Vice World News, March 18, 2021 Affordable Housing Crisis Affects One In Five Renters In Canada: Study, Rental Housing Magazine After the eviction cliff, a […]
In December 2019, we spent two weeks in Vienna. We wanted to visit its famous Christmas markets. Also, I had to see what made Vienna the world’s most livable city. Vienna has now topped Mercer’s Quality of City Living Index for ten years in a row. It is also a perennial leader in both Monocle […]
There is a shortage of quality social and affordable housing in most Western nations. Based on pre Coronavirus statistics, there are 35,000 homeless Canadians on any given night. This does not account for the approximately 50,000 couch surfers. In Canada , over 235,000 individuals experience homelessness every year. 200,000 of these use homeless shelters. The […]