Growing population in Toronto and Hamilton need housing’s ‘missing middle,’ report says
The city needs more “missing middle” housing, such as the lowrise homes on Western Battery Rd. in Toronto’s Liberty Village, to appropriately fit the city’s population, according to a new
TORONTO STAR
Tess Kalinowski
The Greater Toronto and Hamilton Region could be short 165,600 homes by 2041 if it doesn’t rightsize its housing supply to give families more space and build places that will induce seniors to downsize. Failure to do so could skew the population to an older demographic and impede its prosperity by discouraging younger, skilled workers, says a new study.
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In Peel Region, Mississauga has the densest housing mix and Brampton one of the lowest. But Brampton will likely catch up, said consultant and former Mississauga chief planner Ed Sajecki.
When it ran out of greenfield land, Mississauga reinvented itself, tying new development to rapid transit, he said. The planned Hurontario LRT stitches together several major east-west transit routes, including the GO service at Port Credit and Cooksville, a proposed dedicated bus lane on Dundas St. and the Mississauga Transitway along Highway 403.
Although mid-density development is still missing there, that will be an emphasis going forward to housing middle income nurses, teachers and firefighters, who are increasingly facing affordability challenges, Sajecki said.
Without it, he said, “We’re either encouraging people to commute from very long distances or you’re just not going to have that labour supply.”