Redevelopment debate reveals tired excuses against densification

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Many Calgarians are OK with more residential density — as long as it’s not right next to them.

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That’s what I’ve distilled from recent debates over the recently approved redevelopment of the former Viscount Bennett High School site and the rejected proposal to build homes around the Glenmore Landing shopping centre.

The same, tired arguments were unleashed — tropes that may not necessarily apply for the site on the southwest corner of Crowchild Trail and 26th Avenue S.W.

Traffic

Opponents of the Viscount Bennett redevelopment cited its location on a dead end as a major concern, seeing more than 1,200 homes are proposed there.

If the roads around the site were able to tolerate its previous vocation as a large school with as many as 2,000 students plus staff in its heyday, it should have no problem handling whatever new traffic will be on the way.

If the place was like any school I’ve seen around here, there would have been drop-offs and pick-ups for almost everyone at once, leading to a crush of vehicles coinciding with bell times.

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Having thousands of residents at the site will surely generate traffic, but it’s highly doubtful everyone will be coming and going at exactly the same time.

And beside: we have to stop assuming everyone who moves into an area like that will even want to drive — because it’s actually feasible not to.

Transit

The site is right next to the Max Yellow BRT on Crowchild Trail and Route 6 on 26th Avenue S.W. It’s also a short walk to Route 22 on Richmond Road S.W.

Between those options, it’s possible to reach major destinations without a car: a transfer-free ride will get to Marda Loop, Mount Royal University, the ATCO campus, Rockyview hospital, shopping malls around Richmond Road and Sarcee Trail S.W., the Beltline, downtown Calgary, and many other places along the way.

Of course, Calgary Transit will have to beef up better service on these routes when the time comes — a super-high-frequency BRT can move thousands of people per hour — and the developer will required to upgrade the nearby Max stop on Crowchild Trail, which could really use enclosed shelters to protect transit riders from the weather, road dust and freeway noise.

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Green space

Some opponents of the Viscount Bennett redevelopment were concerned about the loss of green space.

While the land was never really a park, I understand how people can become attached to grassy fields next to schools that are essentially parks in all but name.

That being said, the neighbourhood is filled with parks and playing fields a few blocks west and south. There’s another large green space on the other side of Crowchild Trail, next to a school and the local community association.

Height

Some have expressed discomfort with the proposed maximum height for the proposed buildings at the Viscount Bennett site.

This is a symptom of a wider policy issue: We wouldn’t have small pockets of tall buildings across the city if it was easier to build more semi-detached homes, row houses and low-rise building in more places.

This is something blanket rezoning is meant to fix but many people also remain opposed to that change as well.

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The desire among some to ensure even the gentlest kind of densification doesn’t happen near them will, in time, create a situation everyone says they don’t want — super-tall residential towers confined to a few areas and endless low-density, civically expensive, transit-unfriendly and gridlock-generating sprawl eating up precious greenfield sites on the city’s edge.

Meanwhile, many politicians’ stated disdain for anything other than detached single-family homes isn’t conducive to minimizing the cost of delivering public services and, therefore, unhelpful in keeping taxes under control. With municipal election season soon upon us, this glaring, hypocritical contradiction should be loudly and repeatedly called out.

The city should be managed to generate the maximum benefit for all and satisfy long-term housing and taxation needs, rather than to appease short-term concerns.

The right thing to do isn’t always the popular thing to do.

rleong@postmedia.com

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