Victoria Park Tent City

[tomh009]

One of the new condo developments on the waterfront is doing it; ten units are going to be subsidized. I hope the region can do something similar - preferably without the 'poor door' such developments are installing so the penthouse dwellers don't have to risk coming into contact with subsidized residents.

I'm against builder subsidies. Instead we should require that certain number of units be very small, e.g. two bedroom 400sq ft. These would be less desirable units likely go for a lower price and ensure a healthy mix of lower and upper end units. This is at nearly no cost to the developer since price for two 400sq ft units is likely to be comparable the price of one 800sq. ft. unit (be it rent or purchase).

The challenge is defining such things so that you get a desirable outcome.  What we really want are some units that are affordable: that might be the result of some combination of size, finishes, features (balcony? appliances?), floor, view etc.  I don't know how to write non-subjective rules for that, though.