Mixed housing

The minutes from a recent Planning Advisory Committee meeting features a discussion of mixed income development in the context of city planning. I bolded a section where Commissioner of Planning Ken Forrest explains that mixing neighbourhoods is more of a priority than making each building mixed (an idea I also had and posted a while back) and that the public's demand for mixed developments seems to only become a priority when subsidized units are proposed.

The Chairman asked for the Planning Department’s view on the lack of a mix in tenants. Ken Forrest discussed the issues that arise and the degree of difficulty there is when introducing any type of housing density or affordable housing into various neighbourhoods in the City. The level of opposition or concern varies from neighbourhood to neighbourhood. The density of the proposed development is not out of context for the neighbourhood. Mr. Forrest indicated what needs to be considered is an appropriate mix of residential land uses at the neighbourhood level. He noted it seems as though the discussion of a mix within a building is only applied when there is discussion about an affordable housing project. When a high end project is being considered, the concept of mixing is not introduced in the same context. Mr. Forrest wondered whether or not that thought of the concept of mixing should in fact drill down to a building by building scale or whether it is most appropriately considered at the neighbourhood level. From Staff’s perspective they have consistently looked at these issues in the context of the neighbourhood.