Real estate in Calgary - another bubble?

[Mazrim]

For those of you who already own houses, I'm happy for all of you since you'll be making some value on your properties in the next few years at least. For people like me who are scrounging up a down payment for their first home, it's a little depressing to watch houses become even less affordable, potentially in a big hurry if the Toronto and Vancouver situation spill out to other Canadian cities.

[Cappy]

Originally Posted by jaydorn

I was ruminating on the density conversation a few months back when the residential speed limits were being voted on by city council.

The fact is, Calgary was built for cars. While we can’t start from scratch and undo that design, I do think we could get creative in how we layout our current mess of ‘Cookiegreen way/crescent/circle/drive/street/manor’ we see in much of the burbs.

Let’s consider Cranston/Auburn Bay/Seton, what if instead a mess of big box stores (with their giant parking lots) we split the businesses up into something closer to what we see in the Britannia Shopping Centre?

I’m not suggesting every neighbourhood can support a high end kitchen store or a Sunterra the way the inner city can, but we could be striving to make a a few walkable business within 1-2 km walk (note… walk, not as the bird flies) of every home.

What if every 2-3 suburban blocks had a walkable street between them?

Or if we mandated that a certain % of every neighbourhood be true “grid based” street designs?

And yes… for what I’m suggesting we way have to drop a few houses, and sacrifice some street parking to make these things happen. But I think we’ve taken the “miles and miles of roads” thing about as far as we can, before we start dropping apartment buildings into suburbia… let’s try making the current suburbs less pedestrian hostile.

I think the people who use the "this city was built for cars" excuse don't actually want the city to change (not including you in that accusation, as you have actually suggested a compromise). So we are forever doomed to live by the car, die by the car.

[Regular_John]

Originally Posted by Cappy

I think the people who use the "this city was built for cars" excuse don't actually want the city to change (not including you in that accusation, as you have actually suggested a compromise). So we are forever doomed to live by the car, die by the car.

Yeah I think that’s what gets me… this doesn’t have to be a black & white issue.

We can keep our giant trucks & 40 minute commutes to the core, while making our neighborhoods a bit more than large boxes we drive to & from where we store our toys.

[Bunk]

Originally Posted by jaydorn

I was ruminating on the density conversation a few months back when the residential speed limits were being voted on by city council.

The fact is, Calgary was built for cars. While we can’t start from scratch and undo that design, I do think we could get creative in how we layout our current mess of ‘Cookiegreen way/crescent/circle/drive/street/manor’ we see in much of the burbs.

Let’s consider Cranston/Auburn Bay/Seton, what if instead a mess of big box stores (with their giant parking lots) we split the businesses up into something closer to what we see in the Britannia Shopping Centre?

I’m not suggesting every neighbourhood can support a high end kitchen store or a Sunterra the way the inner city can, but we could be striving to make a a few walkable business within 1-2 km walk (note… walk, not as the bird flies) of every home.

What if every 2-3 suburban blocks had a walkable street between them?

Or if we mandated that a certain % of every neighbourhood be true “grid based” street designs?

And yes… for what I’m suggesting we way have to drop a few houses, and sacrifice some street parking to make these things happen. But I think we’ve taken the “miles and miles of roads” thing about as far as we can, before we start dropping apartment buildings into suburbia… let’s try making the current suburbs less pedestrian hostile.

Some of the newest greenfield communities coming online will be much more back to a grid. In my previous job in development, I led the planning for Alpine Park in the SW coming soon, and hired one of the great Urban Designers on earth to do it. It’ll also have a really cool, walkable commercial and mixed use centre. Residential streets a lot like Currie or Garrison Woods. But others like Glacier Ridge and Rangeview will also be a grid. That choice in the burbs will be more available soon too, fortunately.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by jaydorn

What if every 2-3 suburban blocks had a walkable street between them?

Communities of a certain providence had greenbelts and walkways designed into them from the outset. You can walk from one end of Oakridge to the other on pedestrian/bike paths. So it’s not even a new concept. The problem is developers want to maximize the number of lots and the footprint of house per lot.

[accord1999]

Originally Posted by Cappy

I think the people who use the "this city was built for cars" excuse don't actually want the city to change (not including you in that accusation, as you have actually suggested a compromise).

What's wrong with liking Calgary for what it is currently? A semi-sprawling city that has affordable housing (even detached single family) and lower densities that's also pretty easy to get around.

So we are forever doomed to live by the car, die by the car.

That's the case since the 1950s when the car not just completely supplanted legacy forms of transportation, it massively increased mobility enabling the average person to travel tens of thousands of km a year, rather than a few thousand when they had to do it by train, bicycle or walking. There's no going back.

[Hemi-Cuda]

I imagine someone from Vancouver or Toronto would laugh about a Calgary "inner city" resident complaining how far out the suburbs here are. From Panorama I can get to downtown in 20-25 minutes in rush hour, most people in Toronto would dream of a commute like that. I also have experience living in Inglewood, which meant an old house with lots of homeless around and very little parking, and anything beyond trinket shopping meant venturing by car to a 'burb for groceries and other household items. And if I wanted to visit friends that weren't downtown it usually meant dealing with the ####show of Blackfoot/Deerfoot traffic. Now though I have all the shopping we ever need 5 minutes away, and easy access to Stoney. I'd never go back

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Bunk

To me, this is a feature, not a bug of parked cars. People drive slower.

driving slower because visibility is poorer and the situation is thus more dangerous, is not a plus

good lord

[blankall]

Originally Posted by Mazrim

For those of you who already own houses, I'm happy for all of you since you'll be making some value on your properties in the next few years at least. For people like me who are scrounging up a down payment for their first home, it's a little depressing to watch houses become even less affordable, potentially in a big hurry if the Toronto and Vancouver situation spill out to other Canadian cities.

You better buy buy buy!!! J/K I have no idea what's going on.

This has to be the most unpredictable time for real estate since I've been alive. Thing are already so heated in some markets, they can't go up any further? Well they are. Interest rate are at all time low. We could see inflation. What happens post covid? Are increased oil prices here to stay? What about retired boomers? Surely they want to downsize at some point?

It seems like there's just been a lot of people sitting on the sidelines for a while. Now that interest are very low and things are turning around, they are all jumping in. Who knows if this is the new norm or blip before some big crash.

[The Yen Man]

4pm on a Tuesday afternoon starting up my car in Sage Hill to stopping on 6th Ave and 5th St SW, it takes me 26 minutes according to the time elapsed metre in my car. Mind you, that's going against the grain in rush hour traffic during Covid, but my point is, I'm pretty much as far north as Calgary gets, and it takes 25 minutes to hit downtown. It's really not as big a deal as some seem to make it out to be.

[Bunk]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

driving slower because visibility is poorer and the situation is thus more dangerous, is not a plus

good lord

I would bet dollars to dimes the net effect is safer. Driver responds to lower visibility, less space with more attention and lower speed. This is how our brains work.

[Regular_John]

But if you were in Airdrie it would be only 15 minutes. /s

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by The Yen Man

4pm on a Tuesday afternoon starting up my car in Sage Hill to stopping on 6th Ave and 5th St SW, it takes me 26 minutes according to the time elapsed metre in my car. Mind you, that's going against the grain in rush hour traffic during Covid, but my point is, I'm pretty much as far north as Calgary gets, and it takes 25 minutes to hit downtown. It's really not as big a deal as some seem to make it out to be.

I used to live in Chestermere, and it got real old whenever I told someone new that and they replied "Wow that's so far", especially if they lived deep SW. I had a shorter commute downtown from there than anyone in Shawnessy or Midnapore

[Bunk]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

I imagine someone from Vancouver or Toronto would laugh about a Calgary "inner city" resident complaining how far out the suburbs here are. From Panorama I can get to downtown in 20-25 minutes in rush hour, most people in Toronto would dream of a commute like that. I also have experience living in Inglewood, which meant an old house with lots of homeless around and very little parking, and anything beyond trinket shopping meant venturing by car to a 'burb for groceries and other household items. And if I wanted to visit friends that weren't downtown it usually meant dealing with the ####show of Blackfoot/Deerfoot traffic. Now though I have all the shopping we ever need 5 minutes away, and easy access to Stoney. I'd never go back

Living in Latte sipping Hillhurst, there’s virtually nothing I need to go to the suburbs for to live. Maybe golf town once a year??? Inglewood is the exception not the rule on availability of things like grocery in the inner city.

[rotten42]

Originally Posted by Bunk

Living in Latte sipping Hillhurst, there’s virtually nothing I need to go to the suburbs for to live. Maybe golf town once a year??? Inglewood is the exception not the rule on availability of things like grocery in the inner city.

The thing is there are exception to every rule. I live in a burb community. I have walking paths, ravines, a state of the art rec center and only a 10 minute walk to the pub. (20 minute walk back ) Once the weather gets warm the community opens up. People walking, walking the dog or cycling. Not all suburb communities are crap. Some of them work not to bad. Other than work most things I need are a 10-15 walk away. If that's too much of a walk then I'm a slug.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by rotten42

The thing is there are exception to every rule. I live in a burb community. I have walking paths, ravines, a state of the art rec center and only a 10 minute walk to the pub. (20 minute walk back ) Once the weather gets warm the community opens up. People walking, walking the dog or cycling. Not all suburb communities are crap. Some of them work not to bad. Other than work most things I need are a 10-15 walk away. If that's too much of a walk then I'm a slug.

Yeah, I think the suburbs take more crap than they deserve. I live in a suburban location undesirable enough to be called out in this thread specifically. And in the last week I've walked well under ten minutes to the library, the YMCA, a bakery, a grocery store, a liquor store, a seafood store, a cheese shop, an ice cream shop, a sushi restaurant, and a vegetable stand.

[photon]

Are condos part of this bubble?

EDIT: Feb 2021 Average Condo Price - $252,638 (-7.3% yr/yr change)

I guess not.

[Regorium]

Originally Posted by photon

Are condos part of this bubble?

EDIT: Feb 2021 Average Condo Price - $252,638 (-7.3% yr/yr change)

I guess not.

Maybe the suburbs will finally pay their fair share of property tax.

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

TODs? Like the London Towers development at Heritage? Where people are trying to unload their units at a loss?

How people ought to live, and what they actually do if given a choice, are rarely the same thing. People are funny that way.

London isn’t TOD. Brentwood is probably the closest local attempt, but still not good enough.

[MarchHare]

Originally Posted by Bunk

Living in Latte sipping Hillhurst, there’s virtually nothing I need to go to the suburbs for to live. Maybe golf town once a year??? Inglewood is the exception not the rule on availability of things like grocery in the inner city.

This week marks exactly one year since the COVID lockdown began for me. It recently occurred to me that I can count the number of times I've left the Beltline in the last year on one hand. I have literally every amenity I could possibly need within a ~10 minute waking radius of my front door.