I thought this part was interesting:
Quote:
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Some councillors asked that the mayor call four recommendations surrounding the motion separately, which would have allowed them to receive the report without directing city administration to begin the work. However, Gondek declined that request, making it a single all-or-nothing vote.
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Gondek has all of Nenshi's stridentness without the intellectual and interpersonal heft he used to get things done. I wish we could have him back.
And some of these recommendations are counter-productive. For example, if we start investigating rent control that will absolutely reduce the development of rental housing, because it creates uncertainty around the return a developer can expect.
I do think upzoning the entire city all at once is an interesting idea, and would probably make a real difference in housing affordability. That said, from an equity point of view I'm only OK with that if the DC large lot districts (eg Mount Royal) get the same treatment. If the deal is everyone changes then it needs to be everyone, not everyone except the richest people.
For those interested the recommendations are publicly available at the bottom of this page.
https://engage.calgary.ca/HATaskForce
Edited to add: I'm in favor of upzoning even though higher rents benefit me, because I think it helps people. I'm less certain about removing parking requirements - the city isn't designed for car free lifestyles in many/most neighborhoods, and I think if everyone is going to have a car removing the requirement that they have somewhere to park it is a bad choice.