Ep. 119: Solutions to Vancouver's Housing Crisis

Guest: Michael Geller, architect

Does Vancouver really have a housing crisis? Michael Geller thinks so.

While he agrees with the provincial government's 15% foreign ownership tax, he's not on board with its implementation.

"The way they went about it was very unwise and was quite shocking, but it just shows how emotion and political considerations can often dominate common sense."

Common sense is what Geller is proposing. As far as he's concerned, it's quite simple: increase the supply. "So the question is how do we do that? People immediately assume that if you're going to increase supply, that means high-rises are coming, and I think that's wrong. There's a lot of housing that I call in-between housing: something in between the single family house and the high-rise apartment. And it includes duplexes and townhouses along all the arterials. The other thing is looking at opportunities to do more intensive development. Why don't we take these corner lots and divide them into two?"