Making Cold Weather Cities Livable - Edmonton's New Example

In northern cities, wintertime can mean a season devoid of urban co-living. It's too cold, too grey, and too slippery to bother getting involved with public events and to occupy social spaces. This unfortunate reality can hold city growth back. People want to live in happening places - areas where they can quickly access fun social activities.

As an absolutely frigid winter city, Edmonton is well aware of these livability issues. To combat its own stodgy wintertime vibe, Edmonton has placed itself at the forefront of creating urban space designed to minimize winter's effects. To drive social engagement, Edmonton has undertaken plans to create an urban core based upon simple principles of winter-focused design. Mixing evergreen and deciduous trees can create a natural wind barrier, while allowing sunlight to reach through. Brightly colored features add life to grey skies. Lightwells in buildings take advantage of all of the sunlight they receive.

Building Efficiently; Seattle & Portland

Recently Vox Media published a study using a new measure of household density to determine which cities are building in the most efficient manner. Normal studies use an old and simple measure of density, while this study uses a targeted measure that more accurately weights parts of a city where a higher proportion of people actually reside. This new measure therefore can see past industrial and commercial areas and focuses on where people actually live. What now becomes apparent is that as people are leaving the urban areas of some cities (Detroit, Cincinnati etc...), other locales are becoming more dense without housing costs increasing dramatically.

Portland and Seattle lie near the top of this graph, and far above the regression line (click to enlarge)

Looking at the graph, it stands to reason that places like Charlotte are adding the most density. Because Charlotte was such a sprawled out metro area before their building boom, current building can increase its measured density quickly because the weighted housing density was so low to begin with. New Orleans (bottom left of graph) is both losing population and is becoming less dense; which can be interpreted as people are leaving the city, and most new construction starts are in suburban areas.

Whereas cities such as San Francisco and New York have historically struggled balancing population growth with affordable housing, Seattle and Portland have maintained relaxed expansionary policies aiding the ability of people to build in those cities. These measures have contributed to falling rents in some parts of Seattle; a prospect that seems ludicrous in places like the greater Bay Area. For growing cities, generating positive infill (as opposed to exclusively generating sprawl... Looking at you, Phoenix) and keeping housing costs down is an ideal win-win situation, and is something other cities should emulate.

Keep up with our blog posts here and on www.surfaceprotectionexperts.com, and always feel free to visit our website www.buildsitepro.com

Emerging Trends in Homebuilding

Recently a new report from Urban Land Institute has been making waves throughout the construction and design industries. This reputable and widely spread forecast outlines the transition from the post-recession slump in housing to the bright future ahead. Most interesting however, are some of the general trends covered in the report:

"18 Hour" cities such as Portland, Oregon are projected to rapidly grow

Smaller Cities Will Grow the Most. Places such as Austin, Portland, Raleigh, and Charlotte will likely grow at substantially faster rates than traditional, better-known big cities. Lower cost of living, better transit connectivity, and more open opportunities for investment are making these smaller cities attractive for residents, builders, and investors alike. Portland is already feeling the growth, as it's rental rates/cost are among the fastest rising in the nation (we've seen this firsthand, as we've provided surface protection to a number of new urban projects there). Austin is experiencing its own building boom, rent increases, and growth; and its skyline will soon feature a new tallest building---a residential skyscraper.

Decline in Home Ownership. It's been well documented for some time that millennials are waiting longer to purchase homes, and fewer are even doing so. Interestingly however, a decline in home ownership rates is being seen across all age groups. While the home ownership rate was 70% before the economic downturn, that rate has declined and has been stuck at 63% ever since. Even with the modest recovery taking place and the rapid growth of smaller cities, home owenership rates aren't growing. As a result, non-traditional housing options are increasingly popular. Microhousing units (residences smaller than 350 sqft) are cropping up in urban centers, and rental properties are increasingly desirable; as seen through the massive increases in rental cost in Portland, Austin, and other smaller cities. There certainly exist opportunities for new and creative housing solutions in cities.

Less Parking. Recently, a very popular image overlaying the amount of parking in Los Angeles relative to the size of L.A. has gone viral. It illustrates a big problem with modern cities; parking lots are an inefficient use of land.

The degree to which parking wastes urban space in L.A.

Urban density is increasing, public transit is improving, and fewer young Americans are choosing to own cars. Expect to see a transition away from parking lots towards parking garages and underground lots.

It will be interesting to follow 2016's new housing starts to see if any of these highlighted trends become apparent. Stay up to date with all of our blogging and social media efforts by checking in for our weekly blog postings!