Edmonton's zoning bylaw renewal
Making it easier to build infill housing instead of just building outward
Yes, Edmonton has cold winters, but it’s growing rapidly: its population grew 8.3% from 2016 to 2021, while Vancouver only grew by 4.9%. And average incomes are higher in Edmonton than in Vancouver. Yet housing is still affordable there. Why?
In Edmonton (and Montreal), when there’s an economic boom and more people move there, what happens is that they build more housing, keeping prices stable. (The housing supply is “elastic”.) In Toronto and Vancouver, this doesn’t happen: prices go up, but the level of housing starts remains the same. Calgary is somewhere in between.
Edmonton has been working on a proposed new zoning bylaw for the last five years, with a lot of public consultation along the way. A draft was released in June. Under the proposal, it’ll be easier to add infill housing in existing neighbourhoods, instead of adding new housing only at the edges of the city. In particular, in a small-scale residential zone, you’ll be able to build a detached single-family house or a variety of buildings up to three storeys without requiring a rezoning: rowhouses, townhouses, or walk-up apartments, with up to eight dwellings.
City council is holding a public hearing this week. If approved by council, it’ll go into effect on January 1, 2024.
Looking on places like Reddit, there seems to be a lot of public support. The Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues supports the new zoning bylaw, which I find really amazing. (My guess is that Edmonton’s community leagues may be run by younger people than Vancouver’s neighbourhood associations.)
Robert Summers, an urban planning professor at U of A:
The new land use bylaw is of no benefit to 'Developers'. Developers are perfectly happy building the city outward. The zoning bylaw doesn't magically create new developer profits, it simply helps to direct where profit oriented developers build homes.
I'd argue that the new land use bylaw will help developers who focus in on infill. They will find it easier to build a diversity of housing types in existing neighbourhoods. These homes will be at a lower cost due to reduced land use zoning costs and reduced risks.
"Ah Ha" says the skeptic, "but won't those greedy infill developers (you know who you are) just keep prices high, and reap the tremendous profits for themselves".
They would LOVE TO, but unfortunately (for them), they face competitive markets.
As infill development gets easier, greenfield developers (those who focus on the outskirts of the city) will lose some market share to the increased infill homes. One way to adjust to that, is to start looking inward themselves (some have already started).
At the same time, smaller infill lends itself well to new start-ups. With faster timelines and less risk, it will be easy for new small infill companies to start up. All of these groups competing in the new, expanded, infill market means that 'super-profits' are not available.
So, what changing the land use bylaw does is simply redistribute the market a bit so we get more infill and less greenfield development - it doesn't magically create more profit. As a city, we want more infill. It's more efficient and more environmentally friendly.
It allows more people to get around without a car. It enhances the use of public transportation and our existing schools and parks. More folks living in the core of our city makes a LOT of sense.
"But" protests the skeptic "Don't economists say that when governments get involved in picking winners and losers in the market, things become LESS efficient?"
It's actually the opposite - our old 1950s land use bylaw greatly restricted the market - it's the inefficiency!
If we hadn't restricted our infill growth for decades, we would have seen the city transform much more over time with a lot more row housing, small apartments, skinny homes, and so on. Indeed, the land use bylaw simply removes some restrictions on the market.
The new land use bylaw is another modest step forward in allowing our city to evolve. It will result in the continued slow densification of our urban core. It is not radical. It will allow our city to evolve. It's good for Edmonton.
More
Zoning Bylaw Renewal Initiative. City website.
Submission to city council by Robert Summers.
Edmonton: Here's what you need to know about how zoning changes may affect you. Lauren Boothby, Edmonton Journal, June 2023.
Why Edmonton's community league federation supports new zoning bylaw. Jenn Parsonage and Laura Cunningham-Shpeley, Edmonton Journal, October 2023.
Sixties-era urban planning doesn't work for today's Edmonton. Katy Ingraham, Edmonton Journal, October 2023.
Edmonton assessment map by Darkhorse Analytics. 100 years of growth in six seconds.
A Reddit comment: “I really feel for council here - the zoning bylaw renewal has had five years of truly unprecedented engagement. They've done standard engagement sessions, one-on-one's, online forums, they produced a podcast, colouring book and literally mailed every single property owner with their tax notice and update about the project and engagement.
“And the primary tenor of the people complaining is ‘we didn't know, we want more engagement’.”An animated music video from the opposition.
Grow Together Edmonton is a group that supports more housing in Edmonton. They have a guide for writing or speaking to council.