As infill housing in Edmonton rises, this series highlights the pros and cons of these developments and the complexities surrounding housing in a rapidly growing city.
Barbara Nipp stares out her front window at the construction vehicles blocking the street in front of her home.
She and her husband have lived in their McKernan home for 40 years.
They’ve seen a lot of change in the neighbourhood but say the eight-plex going up next door is too much.
“You’ve got everything the way you want and you figure you can spend the rest of your life here. I don’t know if I can anymore,” she told CTV News Edmonton.
Nipp’s backyard has fruit trees, berry bushes and in the warmer months, a vegetable garden that she harvests, cans and eats through the year.
She worries about how the neighbouring building will impact her beloved pastime.
“Now I’ve got an eight-plex on my south fence. Am I going to have any light? Nevermind privacy but light?”
New zoning bylaw boosts builds
Eight units of housing – up to three storeys in height – are now permitted on any residential lot in Edmonton of a certain size.
The change came into effect just over a year ago under the city’s new zoning bylaw.
“It’s gentle density. It includes anything from a semi-detached, duplex, triplex, row house or up to under four-storey apartments,” explains Christel Kjenner with the city of Edmonton.
“It helps housing integrate better into existing neighborhoods because you’re not just plopping a high rise in the middle of a neighborhood.”
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Kjenner leads Edmonton’s housing action team which is working to increase housing of all types in all areas of the city.
“Edmonton in two years has grown by 117,000 people, which, to put that in perspective, is more than the population of Red Deer,” she said.
“We don’t necessarily have a choice in terms of how many people are moving into Edmonton, what we do have a choice in is do we provide housing?”
The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) reported that Edmonton led the country in housing starts last year, seeing a 39 per cent increase from the year prior.
City looks to maintain affordability
December’s average home price was $435,549 according to the REALTORS Association of Edmonton, a 12.2 per cent increase year-over-year.
Kjenner said the price of housing would be much higher if the city wasn’t building so fast.
“We’ve seen in other markets, where they experience a lot of population growth really quickly, and builders and developers aren’t able to respond in a way that’s quick and timely, we see huge price increases happen almost overnight.”
The city’s goal of maintaining overall affordability is a hard sell for the Nipps, who say they are already experiencing a drop in their quality of life because of the development next door.
“I have been so stressed out,” Nipp sighed.
