Quote:
Originally Posted by Cowboy89
After reading some stuff from Nenshi in developing more higher density, walkable communities with Garrison Woods being used as a beacon of enlightenment for future communities that can also feature many sizable family friendly town homes, I couldn't help but dream of living in a community like Garrison Woods. So I started looking at real estate sites and the like and found that town homes of size with backyards et al go for "From the 650,000s" according to the new 'Victoria Cross' Development http://www.homesbyavi.com/main.asp?CityID=1. Highly levered 5%, 35% mortgage option aside, realistically this dream can only be attained by a family that features a couple who both earn six figures and in the end it's still just a townhome. |
You can't just look at the housing prices and go from there, it's more about the design of Garrison Woods. Mackenzie Towne is actually designed in a similar manner, and has won awards for it. The focus is more on looking at existing neighbourhoods and redeveloping them to be more like Garrison Woods and Mackenzie Towne instead of putting more and more subdivision developments like New Brighton and Silverado.
Developers in Calgary are only interested in making huge profits off of the cheap neighbourhoods they can pump out like clockwork in the deep south where every home is one of three or four models and people can afford them. But the problem is huge for the city. Don't quote me on this, but I believe that Silverado isn't connected to the main sewer system, and all sewage goes into a big septic tank that is emptied daily. That kind of thing is insane! We're building beyond the limits of the cities ability to provide services to the people.
And it's not just utilities, transportation corridors are choked with people trying to get between downtown (where the majority work) and the deep south. Existing schools, hospitals, fire stations, etc, aren't being used to proper capacity because the people are fleeing to the edges of the city, meaning that there is now a desperate need for those services in the suburbs.