Stephen Quinn interview with New West mayor Patrick Johnstone
Transit-oriented development in downtown New West
Stephen Quinn interview with Patrick Johnstone, mayor of New West. I thought Johnstone did a great job, talking about:
Transit-oriented development like Plaza 88 (which opened back in 2012). New Westminster has five SkyTrain stations in a relatively small area.
New student housing at Douglas College, noting that new housing frees up older housing.
Older rental housing is being retained.
Also, of course, asking for funding from the provincial and federal governments for affordable housing and for infrastructure, as well as provincial funding for schools.
On rental supply and affordability:
Q. Every city is facing a lack of affordable rental housing. How are you fixing the problem here?
Just adding to the rental supply has really been a success story for us. We're still challenged with the affordability side. And it's still really difficult to get affordable rental built. And the kind of rental that needs government subsidy, effectively, in order to get it built at an affordable rate.
We've also been successful that New Westminster is not tearing down the old and affordable rental that exists. So even though the new rental is not the most affordable rental, adding the supply does make sure that that older rental does stay more affordable.
On the need for more schools (which are provincially funded):
It's not the city's responsibility to build these, but I hear from my community all the time: schools, schools, schools. Our schools are crowded, the school playgrounds are crowded, the school parking lots are crowded with portables. We need to build schools.
New Westminster has actually been one of the most attractive cities for young families. The demographic that's growing fastest in our city is young families. And that is putting a lot of pressure on our schools.
New student housing, which frees up older housing:
Q. So here's what happens when you asked the New Westminster mayor to take you to something exciting happening in his city, he takes you to two big holes. Why?
Because this is an exciting project. 350 units of student housing being built at Douglas College. Student housing for the first time at Douglas College. And the student housing is a piece of the housing matrix. It just hasn't been built in a long time. So it's really exciting that New Westminster for the first time is going to have that housing.
Not only is it affordable for students, it also takes 350 students out of the affordable housing stock in the market. That opens up more spaces for affordable housing.
More
Patrick Johnstone’s blog, going back to 2010
Commentary on provincial legislation, from November 2023: multiplexes, fixed development charges, transit-oriented development.