Quote:
Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger
I don’t get what you’re saying here. You want people to stop generalizing but offer only anecdotal evidence that the suburbs aren’t popular and that inner city living is.
That’s literally what generalizations are for. They don’t mean “everyone without exception”. I don’t know why people so often think that’s what generalization means.
Condos and townhouses are not nearly as popular as SFHs. That’s a fact, not a generalization. The generalization is the “why?” And from my experience in Calgary/Canada is that people tend to, generally, look down on condos and value independent SFHs with a yard. They don’t mind the commute and other downsides to living in the burbs, including the lack of sustainability and the taxation issues that urban sprawl creates.
So yeah, many families live in apartment condos but most don’t and don’t want to.
As mentioned, since it doesn’t appear Canadians want to live in high density multi family units, the only way to encourage increased density is to make living in the burbs cost prohibitive to drive up the necessity of multi family dwellings. In turn this means more people closer to the core, less cars, less infrastructure, better transit etc. It’s a positive feedback loop. Except right now we’re doing the opposite. More roads, less transit, more sprawl which in turn drives more cars, more SFH etc.
|
Um, this is all just basically your own opinion and anecdotal evidence as well, which is what you're accusing me of. Lots of assumptions in your post that aren't as black and white as you're making it.
Condos are still getting built across Canada, with places like Calgary even looking at downtown commercial towers getting converted into more condos. If there wasn't a demand for them, why are they still getting consistently built? They may offer less space than SFH's, but in general, a condo is cheaper than a house and will likely be for the forseeable future.
Also - "Most don't want to?" ... are you sure about that? Have you asked everyone, everywhere? Six out of eight units on my floor are occupied by families and almost all have been there for years. I also live close to an affordable housing development and many have lived there for years as well; hell, I've seen many of their kids grow up there and it really is a close community they have there. If anything, the interaction they have might even be closer and more connected than any suburban neighborhood. I don't recall ever hearing a single comment from anyone I know in my building or my community referring to 'dying to get out'.
Are you sure everyone hates condos and wants to get out of them? Are you absolutely, positively sure about that?