As some of you probably know I am an architecture and urban planning junkie, I found this article that you guys should all read. Calgary is getting so sprawly it's driving me nuts... we need to have better development of the existing land in Calgary. Right now Mayor Bronconcrete is focused on all the wrong things by allowing developers to just eat up more land by adding more and more far flung suburbs which require expensive road and utilities expansions. This article is written by Richard White, the director of operations and communications at Riddell Kurczaba Architecture.
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'D-word' needs embracing by Calgarians
More and more, we hear the need for more density in how we develop our cities. Unfortunately, the "d-word" is feared by many Calgarians and Canadians as we still evolve from an agrarian to an urban society. Increased density is about creating more diversity in housing options for Calgarians. It is not about eliminating single-family housing. For many people, higher density is synonymous with multi-family development. However, that is not always the case.In the suburbs, it could mean smaller lot sizes or more attached town homes like we see in McKenzie Towne. It doesn't have to mean apartment blocks or highrise condos. In established communities, it can be infills where a lot with one house is subdivided to accommodate two houses, or it could be small condominium or apartment complexes. In the city centre, it means mid- and high-density urban villages. There are several reasons why people fear high density development. One of the main fears is that density will mean more traffic and congestion.
While this is true, it is usually not as bad as people fear. If the road network and community are well-designed, the higher density development will be located within walking distance of bus stops, LRT stations, grocery stores and other amenities, allowing people living there to walk and take transit more than currently occurs. For most roads in Calgary, congestion happens only a few hours a day. Most of the time, there is excess capacity. Another reason people fear density is that multi-family housing has been associated in the past with lower-cost housing -- which people have stereotypically associated with cheap building materials and poor designs. They were also once seen as attracting low-income people. Such stereotypes are certainly not true anymore. Many multi-family housing projects are built to high standards, attracting wealthy empty nesters and young professionals. Think Bridges, Eau Claire, Garrison Woods and McKenzie Towne. In the past, high density communities also meant less privacy. But with new multi-family construction materials, the walls, windows and floors can create an almost soundproof place to live.
Attached homes and balconies can be staggered to allow for more privacy than enjoyed by many current suburban homes, which often have shared front driveways and back decks that seem to almost touch one another. People in single-family communities often feared the addition of multi-family projects because they believed it would decrease property values through things like increased crime and more transients. But this certainly isn't the case in communities like Garrison Woods. Property values in these communities have increased more than most neighbourhoods.
The increased density brought increased amenities -- new Safeway, Starbucks and other retailers and restaurants, which helped make the area more desirable. In a traditional single-family street, there is eight feet between houses. If there are 20 homes on the street, that means 160 feet of side yard that serves no useful purpose. If you were to attach each of the homes, you could create four more homes 40-feet wide, or five more on 30 foot lots -- a 20-per-cent increase in density without changing the size of the lots.This would also allow more "tot lots" or playgrounds where children or grandchildren can play and meet other kids, rather than being locked up in a backyard with a six-foot fence.
Higher density is about better design that would stagger homes so there is more, rather than less, privacy. It also creates a more social place where residents know their neighbours and can feel more part of their community. I think there are some great opportunities to densify our established communities, especially along major bus routes and near LRT stations. Imagine if streets like 17th Avenue (east and west), Bow Trail, Centre Street, 14th Street North and Edmonton Trail were converted from being primarily single-family homes and small businesses.
Imagine if they were instead changed to four- and five-floor mixed-buildings with retail at the base and apartment and condos above. Imagine if our older shopping centres and grocery store sites were redeveloped to include some residential development, as has happened at North Hill shopping centre. Why create more density? Simply put, a denser city is more cost-effective, more environmentally friendly and allows for a better quality of life. A denser urban city invests less in roads and interchanges and more in transit, schools, hospitals, libraries and parks. A denser city is a healthier city, creating more green space, more walking and better air quality through less driving. This isn't going to happen overnight in Calgary. But if we build more quality medium- and high-density communities, we will see that living in denser neighbourhoods does not mean you have to sacrifice your current quality of living. In fact, it will enhance it. Think of roof-top gardens rather than mowing the back yard. Think of people watching on a sidewalk patio, rather than painting the back deck.
Think of a front porch, rather than a patch of grass and a massive driveway to shovel. Think outside the single family box. I expect that, in the future, Calgarians will embrace the D-word.
Topic: We need more people like this in Calgary! (Read 2169 times)