Post

In 2023 we did a quick rendering sketch for council motion by @christineboyle.bsky.social @onecityvan.bsky.social aiming to unlock new housing options in Shaughnessy... it didn't pass at the time, but here's the 2026 version to keep the dream alive.

Original, circa 2023. The city could allow sub-$1m home options in every n'hood and on every block. We just need to end the ban on small lots, and end the ban on small lot apartment buildings.

Small lot single stair apartment buildings could fit well among the large detached homes, or sharing the same lot. Uptake would probably be slow but it would be a big symbolic shift if we stopped providing government-enforced zoning protections for estate mansion districts, and allowed subdivision

There are more incremental approaches as well.... For instance, lane houses still legally require a lane to be built. We could remove that and allow a rear yard lane house or fourplex on properties like this one.

Some of the homes are large and make decent multi bedroom rentals. This one is renting at $1300/br. If it was redeveloped into a new mansion I don't believe there are any rental-loss policies, recompense, protections etc that apply. This is part of the bias of our system.

Some properties, like this one on Cartier, could support substantial infill next to the house, or if the lot was subdivide-able.

At the moment multifamily housing is confined to the noisy/polluted arterial roads (as is the case for much of the city)

Many lots will be too expensive to pencil at incrementally higher densities, or are better to simply leave as rental homes, but some of the larger lots are actually fairly low cost (psf of land) due to the zoning controls. This example is a "five six" single stair building at ~1.8 FSR.