From tvo:
The housing crisis in the Greater Toronto Area is complicated, with multiple interrelated debates over how to balance things like rent control and tenant protection against the fears of choking off new housing construction in a market that badly needs new homes. But it boils down to a fundamentally simple question: How are we going to make room for the tens of thousands of people who want to live and work in the region?
In last night’s episode of TVO.org’s Political Blind Date, we see two different responses to the issue: Toronto city councillor Stephen Holyday introduces members of his community who are worried about a tower development in their neighbourhood; his colleague Councillor Ana Bailão shows Holyday various approaches to “gentle density” in her ward — a homeowner looking to turn his two-storey home into a triplex, some unassuming laneway homes.
Gentle density has been having a bit of a moment both in Toronto and in other major cities around North America, as planners and city leaders try to devise ways to add new homes to cities in smaller, incremental ways that will be acceptable to local residents anxious that a 40-storey tower is going to sprout up in their neighbourhood.