John Robson: I’ll Stick With NIMBYism Over Being Stuffed in a Concrete Box
Commentary
Remember when they paved paradise and put up a parking lot? If not, don’t worry, because they’re about to do it again. The smart set in Canada, as elsewhere, are determined to cram people into cement and asphalt canyons and caverns and the fact that you want a house with a lawn simply proves you need a good nudge.
Even Aaron Wudrick of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute just complained that “Exclusionary zoning, which sees large swaths of major cities reserved exclusively for single-family homes, prevents densification and ensures that ‘not in my backyard’ (NIMBY) activism can easily block proposed redevelopments. … [T]he province should flip the script and weaken the veto power of the NIMBY crowd by passing legislation limiting exclusionary zoning, and mandating ‘densification by default,’ except in extenuating circumstances.” Terrible….