Editor,
I wonder what the Housing Leadership Council (HLC) thinks of the complete reversal by professor Patrick Condon, a notable urban designer, planner and author, regarding his disavowal that upzoning neighborhoods and stuffing more units into new housing projects would create more affordable housing. He now confirms that this is a complete fallacy.
Citing his own city as a typical example, Condon stated, “We have incrementally quadrupled the density of Vancouver, but we haven’t seen any decrease in per square foot costs. That evidence is indisputable … . No amount of opening zoning or allowing for development will cause prices to go down. We’ve seen no evidence of that at all. It’s not the NIMBYs that are the problem — it’s the global increase in land value in urban areas that is the problem.”
Watch Condon’s recent talk on YouTube as he erases the affordable housing myth at https://www.youtube.com/watch?emci=513007c2-3b6b-eb11-9889-00155d43c992&emdi=f5154b1c-b96b-eb11-9889-00155d43c992&ceid=2923149&v=24vf2c9AIwQ&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR25e57vEkp4gnfgasXJs7EQfKTUhAeI4XKbBo-CL8ULnjpzkCmguLQJvkE.
The truth has a way of shining a light given enough time. The HLC will now have to find a new reason to continue their relentless push for more dense housing in our city and beyond.
Lisa Taner
San Mateo
(2) comments
So we've allowed the land to become too expensive for people to live on it? Why isn't that being addressed?
You are right Lisa, with Covid the desire for stacked housing in long gone. The HLC did not pick a good time to come out for higher density and their argument falls of deaf ears with more and more people working remotely. So sorry.
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.