Okay so my editor gave me some space to write the thing. New from me at TVO. www.tvo.org/article/analysis-cities-are-for-people-not-planners

April 08, 2026 - 12:52 UTC

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Love this, thanks for writing.

“…it’s a planning system where we’ve added so many different ways to say “no” that it’s functionally impossible for anyone to say “yes” and mean it.”
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Going to have to disagree with you here:
"The market" will not build houses for low income people when there are higher income people wanting houses.
"The market" will try to push people into houses that will break them, all for "the market"'s profit.
We've always known this.
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The market will build for whatever a customer is willing to pay, as long as the type of housing low income people can afford is actually legal to build.
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Sometimes I feel a bit crazy because the answer to housing seems obvious to me but just requires a bit of nuance: Yes, we must allow the building of much more housing but at the same time we also must mandate low-income government housing. The market is not benevolent and this is known, as you say
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Interesting reading from Hamilton - where the community successfully pushed back against both sprawl developers and planners to preserve farmland and build housing where infrastructure already exists - only for the province to change the law and allow privately initiated urban boundary expansions.
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The whole notion that smaller (but still large!) minimum lot sizes would prevent development of other housing forms seems to assume that a minimum lot size is a maximum lot size.

If rowhouses get built on skinny lots and the future demands larger lots with multiplexes, surely they could be bought
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and joined again in the future (and with even more flexibility because you're attaching smaller parcels!)
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So good
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Oh lord this piece is a beauty
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🔥🔥🔥 "Naturally, Toronto quickly adopted rules to prohibit apartments, thereby ending the threat of independent women once and for all."
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Some serious weaknesses here in muddling together the planning profession with city councillors or committee of adjustment members. It's untrue that the stance of public planners is that the market doesn't exist, when it's more like the market shouldn't be the sole consideration.
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I think you should peruse the responses from the municipalities planning departments to the minimum lot size ERO.
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Would also be curious how you explain the current situation where the government is stepping in to prevent a glut of poorly conceived condo projects from losing their builders and owners money and translating to lower prices. Seems like the market wanted those till it didn't.
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One of these days turned out to be only 4 days away… nicely done! ✅
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Manufacturing the consent by showing Bluesky engagement metrics 😌👌
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If the Prov really wanted they could adopt Japan style urban planning regulations. But voters would freak out so the can gets kicked.
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I mean, all I would say is not all planners. Certainly places like Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Ottawa planners are trying to continue reforms that enable more housing, even if some are hitting political headwinds.
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Vancouver's biggest high-rises going in at a special non-municipal lot where indigenous owners get to ignore the straightjacket of red tape kinda proves the opposite.
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This is a really good article, thanks! We are seeing lots of the new multiplexes here in Victoria, and of course builders have gone all in on a luxury product, giving more ammunition to NIMBYs that they don’t help with affordability. I do think many folks would just like a small SF home instead.
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Nice piece.

It doesn’t matter what is ‘planned’ and ‘developed’ if regular people cannot afford to live there.

THAT is the fundamental problem. Rents and mortgages are too many multiples beyond income levels.

AFFORDABLE rental housing would be AFFORDABLE on ONE minimum wage job or ONE CPP / OAS
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Maybe some people with knowledge can come in here and enlighten JM’s one note demolition of urban planning?
@alexbozikovic.bsky.social @graphicmatt.com @jasonthorne.bsky.social
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Sounds right to me
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I would be curious to hear your thoughts. I strongly suspect that most planners know how to properly plan a liveable and affordable city, but are constrained by the political pressure from existing homeowners.
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