Comparing Vancouver HPI to Other Cities

[registered]

Calgary has not shortage of land.

Thanks Yoda. Last I checked, there was no shortage of land to Chilliwack either. If commute times aren't a factor in Alberta, they're not in BC.

[eyesthebye]

Calgary has not shortage of land.

Thanks Yoda. Last I checked, there was no shortage of land to Chilliwack either. If commute times aren't a factor in Alberta, they're not in BC.

Vancouver is to Chilliwack as Calgary is to Red Deer.
Vancouver stops at Burnaby. What stops Calgary?

born yesterday?

[fishguy15]

What stops Calgary?

Ok, I'll bite. It's city limits?

[timber2012]

What stops Calgary?

Ok, I'll bite. It's city limits?

shhhhhh.... that could get confusing for some

[eyesthebye]

What stops Calgary?

Ok, I'll bite. It's city limits?

BZZZZT! Wrong.
Nothing stops Calgary and Edmonton, or Saskatoon, or Winnipeg, etc. from swallowing up more farmland
and spreading further out.
I guess you missed the part about annexing more land.

Edmonton:

"Historically, Edmonton was surrounded by few other urban municipalities (Strathcona, Beverly and Jasper Place being the largest) but these were absorbed through amalgamation or annexation. Edmonton annexed a significant amount of land up until the early 1980s, and as a result it has sustained much of the region's suburban growth within its own boundaries" (wikipedia)

Calgary:

Tens of thousands of people are making that same choice, flocking to Calgary’s edges, pushing the boundaries of the city farther and farther out.

But critics decry a sprawling city that still eats up 548 hectares every year — the equivalent of almost a third of Okotoks. Calgary’s one million residents live on 745 square-kilometres, a fact often negatively compared to the more than eight-million people who call New York’s 830 square-kilometres home. The city argues the sprawl in cities like New York take place on the other side of its city limits.

Brad Stelfox, a land use expert, says the city’s area has grown by 4.5 per cent a year on average over the past six decades, compared to population increases of about three per cent.

Not so with Vancouver and Toronto.

In March 2005, the Government of Ontario unveiled the boundaries of a greenbelt around the Greater Toronto Area, a 7,200 km2 (2,800 sq mi) area stretching from Niagara Falls to Peterborough. The green belt is designed to curb urban sprawl and to preserve valuable natural areas and farmland surrounding the city. However, some types of development including detached single residential, quarries and commercial facilities continue to get approved, exerting pressure and population growth on the Greebelt. Toronto is the latest in a line of cities that have implemented growth boundaries of some kind as a method of restricting urban growth, including Ottawa, Portland, Oregon, Frankfurt, Melbourne, Seoul and London, UK. (wikipedia)

you'll find that cities that limit urban sprawl also have increasing land values.
Am I wrong?

[timber2012]

What stops Calgary?

Ok, I'll bite. It's city limits?

BZZZZT! Wrong.
Nothing stops Calgary and Edmonton, or Saskatoon, or Winnipeg, etc. from swallowing up more farmland
and spreading further out.
I guess you missed the part about annexing more land.

Edmonton:

"Historically, Edmonton was surrounded by few other urban municipalities (Strathcona, Beverly and Jasper Place being the largest) but these were absorbed through amalgamation or annexation. Edmonton annexed a significant amount of land up until the early 1980s, and as a result it has sustained much of the region's suburban growth within its own boundaries" (wikipedia)

Calgary:

Tens of thousands of people are making that same choice, flocking to Calgary’s edges, pushing the boundaries of the city farther and farther out.

But critics decry a sprawling city that still eats up 548 hectares every year — the equivalent of almost a third of Okotoks. Calgary’s one million residents live on 745 square-kilometres, a fact often negatively compared to the more than eight-million people who call New York’s 830 square-kilometres home. The city argues the sprawl in cities like New York take place on the other side of its city limits.

Brad Stelfox, a land use expert, says the city’s area has grown by 4.5 per cent a year on average over the past six decades, compared to population increases of about three per cent.

Not so with Vancouver and Toronto.

In March 2005, the Government of Ontario unveiled the boundaries of a greenbelt around the Greater Toronto Area, a 7,200 km2 (2,800 sq mi) area stretching from Niagara Falls to Peterborough. The green belt is designed to curb urban sprawl and to preserve valuable natural areas and farmland surrounding the city. However, some types of development including detached single residential, quarries and commercial facilities continue to get approved, exerting pressure and population growth on the Greebelt. Toronto is the latest in a line of cities that have implemented growth boundaries of some kind as a method of restricting urban growth, including Ottawa, Portland, Oregon, Frankfurt, Melbourne, Seoul and London, UK. (wikipedia)

you'll find that cities that limit urban sprawl also have increasing land values.
Am I wrong?

are you comparing Greater Calgary to Greater Vancouver or Calgary proper to Vancouver proper?

If you are comparing propers, both have the same land issues - that being borders.

[jesse1]

If you are comparing propers, both have the same land issues

Someday one might figure out that Boundary Road is not much more than an arbitrary line on a map

[semven]

ETB: you'll find that cities that limit urban sprawl also have increasing land values.
Am I wrong?

Nope The ALR is the Land Bankers BFF right now. Believe it or not, Highpoint in Langley used to be a quarry.

[timber2012]

If you are comparing propers, both have the same land issues

Someday one might figure out that Boundary Road is not much more than an arbitrary line on a map

But without that arbitrary line, how could you tell the difference between Burnaby and Vancouver? - other than $500K in housing price.

[jesse1]

But without that arbitrary line how could you tell the difference between Burnaby and Vancouver?

True story, Boundary Road has a divider down the centre for most of its length because Vancouver wanted the ability to build a rampart in case of societal failure in the burbs. Protected on all sides by water, it's rumoured all bridges are mined with the trigger going straight to 12th and Cambie. Further a stash of bike batteries are stored in the underground bunker at City Hall to keep it lit for up to 6 weeks while reinforcements from New York, London, and Sydney are called.

[eyesthebye]

If you are comparing propers, both have the same land issues

Someday one might figure out that Boundary Road is not much more than an arbitrary line on a map

But without that arbitrary line, how could you tell the difference between Burnaby and Vancouver? - other than $500K in housing price.

when you cross boundary road to Burnaby the house prices are more, not less than Vancouver. The quality of homes far east are poor, then you cross to Burnaby Hosp, Suncrest, Vancouver heights, etc. - all much nicer than what is directly east in Vancouver.

But I get what you're saying, Burnaby is just another part of the larger whole. At some point you need to say that it can't be part of Vancouver since it's just too far away or too tough to access due to bridges. For me this happens at Burnaby to the east, Fraser river to the south, Burrard inlet to the north.

[timber2012]

But without that arbitrary line how could you tell the difference between Burnaby and Vancouver?

True story, Boundary Road has a divider down the centre for most of its length because Vancouver wanted the ability to build a rampart in case of societal failure in the burbs. Protected on all sides by water, it's rumoured all bridges are mined with the trigger going straight to 12th and Cambie. Further a stash of bike batteries are stored in the underground bunker at City Hall to keep it lit for up to 6 weeks while reinforcements from New York, London, and Sydney are called.

If that's the case, I'm listing my house - gonna move 6 blocks west to make sure i'm in Vancouver. Just makes so much sense. For $500K, I get to save 2 minutes a day on my commute to downtown AND I get to say I live in Utopia instead of the equivalent of East Berlin (u know - if that rampart goes up).

Thanks Jessie - don't know what I would have done without this information.

[timber2012]

But without that arbitrary line, how could you tell the difference between Burnaby and Vancouver? - other than $500K in housing price.

when you cross boundary road to Burnaby the house prices are more, not less than Vancouver. The quality of homes far east are poor, then you cross to Burnaby Hosp, Suncrest, Vancouver heights, etc. - all much nicer than what is directly east in Vancouver.

But I get what you're saying, Burnaby is just another part of the larger whole. At some point you need to say that it can't be part of Vancouver since it's just too far away or too tough to access due to bridges. For me this happens at Burnaby to the east, Fraser river to the south, Burrard inlet to the north.

It's got nothing to do with the quality of homes.

Burnaby is running out of land.... it has borders on all four sides and nowhere to expand.

Real Estate 101