This op-ed originally appeared in Toronto Storeys on October 15, 2018.
How to house our city is a top election issue in Toronto.
Affordability is no longer a crisis confined to supportive housing; it has jumped the income band to include most people in Toronto who do not already own homes — working and middle-class, even high-wage earners.
Part of the challenge in delivering appropriate and affordable housing is that a “tall and sprawl” pattern of development has emerged in the Greater Toronto Area: One-bedroom condos at high-density nodes or single-family homes at increasingly distant locations on the urban fringe.
As a result, households must choose between squeezing into a small condo in a high-rise tower close to good employment, amenities and transit, or a single-family home not served by either transit or amenities and requiring a long commute.