The Missing Middle Mystery 

Nice! The urban planning channels are coming together

Currently deciding between moving to Vancouver or NL (from SF Bay, a suburban NIMBY sanctuary), and very curious how Europe generally stacks up on this issue

@Greg Rozmarynowycz , Europe is quite diverse, you can't say it's the same everywhere. Though there are old centres in many places that are like these missing middle. Speaking for the Netherlands, we're also dealing with a housing crisis, due to the lack of building activity after the financial crisis and the increasingly smaller households. Urban policies include many different type of zoning here, with a diversity in density, depending on the location. What frustrates me is that in some of these new city edge sprawl development suburban style zoning is still chosen, even though due the lack of density this doesn't add many new homes. Other areas do better like Leidsche Rijn (a new medium density suburb of Utrecht). If you want to be informed/convinced you should whatch some of Not just bikes' video's.

@@jamescochran3413 We need a collaboration between all city planning channels.

I would love to hear your take on the topic!

The solution to the housing crisis is super easy, its to nationalize the land. Abolishing the rent relation entirely. There are plenty of empty buildings around Vancouver. But this is capitalism.

@@chhhhhris Japan, Singapore, and Austria are pretty much very capitalist, but their housing programs are all planned, built, and maintained by the state. And guess what, government housing are built for both the lower and middle classes, and are built better than most private developments. Why can't the US and Canada replicate these?

@@ianhomerpura8937 Canada and the US are already replicating them, I don't see the difference. The state is just an arm of the private sphere, or the will of economic relations. So, the state builds plenty of housing in the west (since the state is captured by private interests), the private sphere just builds housing openly.

@@chhhhhris that's exactly the problem. In those countries, the government competes against the private sphere. The state can actually have a massive leverage even in capitalist societies, since it alone has the monopoly on policymaking and legislation, both on the local and national levels.

@@ianhomerpura8937 The state is run by the private sector. There's no competition between them. Just look at the politicians, how expensive their media campaigns are to get in office, the politicians themselves are capitalists. The only competition is between differing sects of the ruling class, the capitalists who maintain power of the state and those who are fighting for it (big vs small capital e.g.).

There always was a split between social classes, Vancouver and any other big city just has a way of making it more obvious.

@@xXJumboSauceXx except central Montreal. rich ,poor and everything in-between live together in cozy dense neighbourhoods a la European.

Thank you for creating such a brilliant and articulate description of the failure of single family zoning. I live in South Surrey where the you have to have a car to go anywhere for services and shopping. How wonderful it would be to have local shops and restaurants that were a part of the neighbourhood and within walking distance. Mixed housing neighbourhoods are much more interesting and definitely have a community feel.

@chokolokoloko Wow shiny presentation, but clearly an agenda that needs to be disclosed. Take a drive along Oak Street or Cambie Street and you’ll see new townhouses and duplexes - the not so missing middle. They are part of the Cambie Corridor Plan, which was started back before 2010 when the Canada Line was being completed. There is all sorts of misinformation in this video - when he uses Marine Gateway as an example he fails to mention that if you go one block west of Cambie you’ll find co-op housing, blocks of duplexes, and even more blocks of affordable three story apartments. They area is called Marpole. I think this guy should take a drive through the area. Travel up Cambie and you’ll find blocks of townhouses that have been in the works for years - selling for more than $2 million a piece - sure that’s going to solve the housing crisis. I used to live in both of these areas and I can tell you the issue is developers make more money from condos and that’s why they are a priority for them and secondly and maybe more importantly it takes years to build townhouses - partly the process, the weather, and lack of trades people to speed up the process. I think people are watching the video thinking this is the answer, and why shouldn’t they considering how it’s presented but it’s simply manipulative misinformation. Multiplex units already exist in areas across the city and have for decades, and now the city wants to tear them down as part of the Broadway Plan. This guy wants us to believe that added density to single family home neighbourhoods is the answer, but makes no mention of the fact that many of these homes have rental suites, also known as mortgage helpers, and many of these homes have multi-generations living in them. So from the outside someone might watch this video and think wow, yes this the answer, but it’s not because Vancouver already has issues with density - need to use the ER at VGH, expect a long wait, want to use a community centre on the weekend, in the winter, good luck. Vancouver has been considered a liveable city but that is quickly changing because of development and density. Developers are killing the golden goose, and this guy doesn’t get it, or does he? I also can’t believe he played the race card in this video - that was a hundred years ago. Today and for decades there are all sorts of cultural, ethnic single family home areas in Vancouver. Take a visit to South Main or walk along middle Fraser. Seriously does this guy know the city at all? Truthfully this video is quite racist the way only older white people are shown in the public hearings. I know the single family home area shown in the video east of Cambie and south of King Ed and I can tell you it is mostly Asian-Canadians, second and third generation living in the area. Was the violin for them? Single family home neighbourhoods add to the liveability of the city and changing them, adding to the density does not happen without all sorts of issues. Parking sure - if you can afford a $1 million+ multiplex unit chances are you will have a car, secondly many of these SFH established areas would require expensive plumbing upgrades, and then there is the city infrastructures, hospitals, community centres, roads, which are already going to be stressed given the amount of large scale condo development in the city. Again why do people want to live in Vancouver and is more density really the answer? How about thinking about other places in Canada - Calgary a very liveable city where you can buy a nice three level home for less than the price of a one bedroom condo on Cambie. Not everyone has to live in Vancouver or Toronto. I see the agenda now by watching the end of this video - it’s an industry that wants to benefit from this redevelopment. So point fingers all you want at people that live in these areas and want to protect their interest, but clearly you have a vested interest as well and you have a responsibility to be up front about it - it’s called conflict of interest and if you don’t make it clear then your shiny presentation is nothing more than a manipulation of the masses, similar to what happened a hundred years ago.

14 storeys is not a 'missing middle', and carelessly uncoordinated in the middle of nowhere on the edge of an area that's under huge revision with Indigenous now reclaiming it. And Shaughnessy objected to the other building Ony because of it's location next to a HOSPICE.

Unfortunately for them renters now outnumber them quite handily and there's no hiding the wealth disparities.

Not all people especially families want to live in apts duplexes or row houses. And most will fight tooth & nail to keep their little surrounding that way. Especially when you pay huge amounts on property taxes. And there will always be a housing shortage when the country continues to bring in migrants. Can't keep caught up with housing.

@@liquidgal9867 oooh, blaming immigrants. charming.

@@gauharhayat3461 not blaming migrants you twit! I said more people you bring in and don't keep caught up with housing & infrastructure what do you expect. Duh.

Only to find out housing further away is pretty darn expensive also. As long as immigration levels increase, there will continually be a housing shortage. Oh sorry just saw that your comment is 8mths old. 😲🤣

It wouldn’t matter if the missing middle wasn’t missing the prices would still be really expensive compared to other cities. You can live 100 km away and expect to pay 700k for a townhouse

Creators and artists fled Vancouver a decade ago due to affordability. It’s no coincidence that there is almost no live theatre, non-government art galleries and museums, live music, etc. The interesting people left Vancouver and that’s why it’s a soulless, miserable place to live. Unless you want to look at towers and hike an urban park, there is really nothing to do even as a tourist.

@@tktty Truth. I started planning a trip to VC as a tourist and quickly decided to go to Turkey instead. I'd spend the same amount but get to ride in a hot air balloon over a culturally rich area. In VC I'd just go to a fancy restaurant at a fancy hotel and fly back home.

Thanks! Yea I’ve definitely heard that Montreal is an exception to this phenomenon, I’ve always wanted to check it out :). And thanks for the advices, I’ll give it a try right now.

@@AboutHere Another important part of the Montreal experience is that most neighbourhoods were built as a parish - every school, shop, professional and service a community needed was within walking distance of the local church or cathedral. Gotta walk on Sunday. The classic Montreal neighbourhood filled with triplexes created walkable density that remains valid to this day.

@@WabacControl that seems likely, might have to move to Montreal, away from Gastown.

Hey, I have been thinking of Montreal too, I moved from the Philippines to Vancouver, only stayed there for 2 months, and now living in Toronto. Rent here is crazy, I live in downtown and our homeless situation is becoming wild, and the mentally ill have become so aggressive, last night I had to dodge 4 of them having an episode, I was literally in and out of the building for 15 minutes and that already felt like the most dangerous thing I’ve ever experienced my whole life. Anyway, I visited Montreal last year, I love the housing situation as well as the 3 - 4 stories home, it’s so inviting and it seems really comfortable… there was this area I went to where downstairs were restaurants and the upper floor were residential areas, it’s close to the really big park (omg I forgot the name) but that area. How’s the healthcare though? That’s my biggest concern.

@@absolutelynotnormal healthcare in Quebec is the worst in all of Canada. If you have life threatening illness, wait in line for a few months & hope you don't die, or shell out a couple thousand dollars and get treated instantly in America.

"... you need to transit through low density housing areas to get from one or the other ..." Ooh, the horror of it all!

Vancouverism is by far the best system North America has developed. Visit anywhere in the United States and you’d see just how horrid urban design can be.

@@Physicalchemistry15151 hahahahahahahahahaha Vancouver is one of the worst designed cities in the western world

@@Physicalchemistry151513/4 of Surrey, BC are still incredibly tarnished by urban waste. There’s a plan to build a rapid transit line into a new frontier here, and we’re still at most building townhouses right beside the stations.

The solution to the housing crisis is super easy, its to nationalize the land. Abolishing the rent relation entirely. There are plenty of empty buildings around Vancouver. But this is capitalism.

@@chhhhhris Look how well the USSR did and Russia today. NO, this is not the issue. Private investment would love to create more affordable housing if it were not for the issues discussed in this video, we need less government regulation not more. Regulation is the issue and the government creates problems (Such as the housing crisis) and by the time it fixes them its too late.

@@justauser nah the overproduction of housing is whack, plus the high cost of living, plus poor paying jobs. There is your problem. Go look at Haiti... not much government regulation there.

Langley sucks now, too many people, constant gridlock. I sold at the peak and moved to the Kootenays, loving it.

NO. walkups are old tech. What COULD be done is the three story apartments all through the lower mainland (frame with a concrete base) could be re=zoned to FIVE stories (it's being done in some US cities)> Wood framing can easily be five stories. The foundation and boiler room wouldn't even need upgrading, but that would happen. You then have a lot more affordable rents in the very same footprint.

Really good point. In addition to slowing climate change by halting the expansion of urban sprawls and reducing the need for vehicles, building middle housing requires less concrete, steel, and other carbon intense construction materials. BC (and CoV) recently allowed the construction of mass timber construction up to 12 stories in height for buildings: hopefully this signals a willingness to pursue a middle housing strategy in the future.

Not to mention high rises are terrrrible for the environment. We could build all of the middle housing from sustainably managed forests. Thats "the greenest city."

@@aabb55777 Isn't that just suburbia? That would be even worse because it would take up way more space, as well as create longer car trips

Nothing Vancouver or Canada does will affect Global climate change. What, do you think that if Vancouver achieves 'net zero' a majical dome will occur over the city? What a sheep.

Play god and enjoy a quick destruction lol