The five things we wish everyone knew about infill

1. The Crestwood example is no longer allowed

Crestwood is a favourite example to point to in the news and for opposition to infill. What many don't realize is that it would be impossible to build these two eightplexes as-is again. In July, City Council modified the rules for infill, reducing building length, and increasing side setbacks. In simple terms, infill buildings would have to be significantly smaller than the Crestwood example.

In any case, the two eightplexes in Crestwood are examples of density where everyone asserts it makes sense. They're located within 600m walking distance from the future Valley Line LRT, in an expensive neighbourhood. They're providing housing options near transit for people who would otherwise not get to live in the neighbourhood they love.

2. Infill makes housing more affordable

It's easy to look at new infill and say that it's not affordable. While the sticker price may seem high in absolute terms, they are often still more affordable and providing rental options in already expensive neighbourhoods like Belgravia, Glenora, and Crestwood.

There are still many cases where a new home built may not be affordable individually. For one thing, brand new expensive housing eventually becomes older and more affordable housing (this is referred to as filtering). But even in the immediate term, new supply serves the important function of relieving pressure on a city's existing housing stock.

Think of this way: If you're a high-income household that could afford new housing, but there's no new homes available, you're just going to seek out the next best thing. And because you're a high-income household, you have the ability to outbid middle-income households for whatever housing happens to be available on the next rung of the ladder. This is what the research shows. In a recent study by Pew, it was found that building more housing — both across a metro area and in specific neighbourhoods — tempers rents across all classes of buildings. Importantly, though, it was found to decrease rents the most for older, more affordable housing. This means that while individual infill homes may not be affordable, they are contributing to wider market affordability.

3. We are building infill close to transit

We often hear that people support infill, but "where it makes sense, like close to the LRT." In fact, two mayoral candidates have put this in their platform. If you examine the data on where infill is being built, it's actually near transit! 55% of 7-8plexes are within 1km of LRT, and 91% are within 2km. That's a short walk, bike ride, or bus ride. The LRT represents billions of dollars of investment that we all pay for. Building infill near transit gets the most use out of our tax money and allows people to drive less. Good for your pocket, good for the environment, good for alleviating congestion.

4. Infill has little effect on property values

If you look at neighbourhoods that have historically allowed more infill, they are some of the most desirable in the city. Places like Bonnie Doon, Garneau, Westmount have seen property values be maintained or increase, even as infill has been built.

Why? It's the golden rule of real estate: location, location, location. Neighbourhoods located close to jobs and amenities remain desirable, no matter if you can build apartments or not. And when you increase zoning permissions broadly, your land value will increase too.

How does this square with infill making housing more affordable? It's simple. More homes per lot means an increased land value can be shared among more people.

5. Infill decreases your property taxes

Infill is being built in mature neighbourhoods, where there has been population decline over the last five decades, and infrastructure already exists. It's common sense that reusing existing infrastructure, instead of building new sewers, pipes and roads, saves us all on our tax bill. That's why it's in everyone's interest to ensure more infill gets built and that we repopulate our mature neighbourhoods. The better use we make of existing infrastructure, the lower your tax bill.