Young people rethinking how they live: expert

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VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Census data shows Vancouver keeps getting older. So, where have all the families gone?

An expert in sustainable urban design thinks young people pushed out by expensive real-estate are starting to rethink how they live, potentially having kids in small condos and apartments.

UBC professor Patrick Condon says cities need a diversity of age groups.

“I think it makes the city much more lively and I appreciate the willingness of young families to make [the decision to stay urban]. If we lose the young families in the city, the city is going to be a very grim and bleak place 20 years from now,” believes Condon.

To ensure this, he thinks we will need to simultaneously shift attitude and policy. Governments, like the city’s task force into affordable housing, can look at mandating a quota of three bedroom condos in new developments. Condon feels it has to be legislated because developers claim there is no market for family-sized condos.

He claims some young people are realizing they can raise a family in smaller spaces and have walkable amenities instead of a yard.

“There’s still a predominant desire of people with families to have a single family home with a yard, but a significant percentage are now saying, ‘yeah, I could maybe have that but I’d give up so much, I think I will move into the 15th floor and promise to take my kid to the park everyday.'”

That shift isn’t so far from where we once were. “Smaller bedrooms, even going back to having kids share a bedroom, as I did when I was a kid.”

But often Condon says, once those babies hit school age, families are still moving to slightly more affordable suburbs — a change we see when looking at enrolment in Vancouver schools. It’s a difficult decision with no optimal outcome.

“They can’t afford a house in Dunbar,” explains Condon. “They can afford a very small two-bedroom condo downtown or someplace in Surrey. The family housing that exists in the city of Vancouver is clearly not available to the average family.”

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