The whispers around City Hall grew louder yesterday when Councillor Tim Cartmell suggested Edmonton might need to take a breather on infill development in mature neighborhoods. As someone who’s spent countless afternoons walking through Strathcona, Westmount, and Ritchie watching older homes transform into duplexes and row houses, this potential pause caught my attention immediately.
Cartmell is proposing what he calls a “tactical pause” on infill development while the city works through its new zoning bylaw implementation. The timing is significant – Edmonton is currently navigating a massive zoning overhaul meant to increase density and housing options across our neighborhoods.
“We’re hearing from residents who feel their communities are changing too rapidly,” Councillor Cartmell told me during a brief conversation after yesterday’s Urban Planning Committee meeting. “This isn’t about stopping progress – it’s about ensuring we’re moving forward thoughtfully.”
The proposed pause would specifically target what many Edmontonians now recognize as the mushrooming of skinny homes, garden suites, and multi-unit developments in our mature neighborhoods. These projects have been dramatically reshaping streets where single-family homes once dominated.
Walking through Bonnie Doon last week while researching our neighborhood transformation series, I couldn’t help noticing the stark contrasts. On one block alone, three century-old homes had recently been replaced with modern duplexes – beautiful additions to the neighborhood’s housing stock, but certainly a visual departure from their surroundings.
Mayor Amarjeet Sohi‘s response was measured but revealing. “Edmonton faces a housing crisis,” he reminded reporters, emphasizing that infill development remains a crucial strategy for addressing affordability concerns and meeting our city’s growing population needs.
The tension here is palpable. Edmonton’s population grew by nearly 8% between 2016 and 2021 according to Statistics Canada, putting enormous pressure on our housing market. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation reports our rental vacancy rate sits at a concerning 2.9% – far below what housing advocates consider healthy.
Yet for residents like Maria Gonzalez, who’s lived in Highlands for over three decades, the rapid transformation brings legitimate concerns. “The character of our neighborhood matters,” she told me during a community garden event last month. “So does affordable housing. Finding that balance is the challenge.”
Cartmell’s proposal would potentially pause new infill projects until after the city’s new zoning bylaw takes effect in January 2025. That bylaw aims to simplify our complex zoning regulations while enabling more diverse housing types citywide.
What makes this especially complicated is the current construction boom. Driving through Westmount yesterday morning, I counted seven active infill construction sites within just a few blocks – evidence of the significant investment already flowing into these projects.
The city administration has been asked to return with a report on the implications of a potential moratorium by early June. That report will need to address some thorny questions: What happens to projects already in the pipeline? How might a pause affect housing affordability? Could this inadvertently accelerate infill applications before any moratorium takes effect?
“We need to determine if we’re getting the outcomes we want,” Councillor Ashley Salvador noted during committee discussions. “Are we creating the mixed-income, accessible neighborhoods our policies envision?”
For many builders and developers, the suggestion of a pause has raised immediate concerns. The Urban Development Institute estimates that infill projects currently represent about 18% of Edmonton’s new housing starts – a significant portion of our construction economy.
“Regulatory uncertainty is always challenging for business planning,” explains David Thompson, an infill developer who’s completed over a dozen projects in mature neighborhoods. “We understand the need for good policy, but consistency matters too.”
What strikes me as particularly significant is how this debate reflects Edmonton’s evolving identity. Our city is navigating a transition from its sprawling suburban roots toward a more compact urban form. These growing pains – finding the balance between neighborhood character and necessary density – reflect deeper questions about what kind of city we want to become.
The proposal comes at a time when Edmonton has been making steady progress toward its infill goals. The city aimed to accommodate 25% of new housing growth through infill by 2020, and city planners confirm we’ve generally been meeting those targets.
As Councillor Aaron Paquette noted, “This isn’t about stopping change. It’s about ensuring we change in ways that benefit everyone.”
For longtime residents of mature neighborhoods, the conversation often centers on more than just buildings. It’s about street parking, tree preservation, construction disruption, and whether their communities will remain recognizable in five years.
“I bought in Ritchie because I loved its character,” says resident James Wilson, who I met at a community league meeting last fall. “I’m not against development, but I want to make sure we don’t lose what makes this place special.”
As this debate unfolds in the coming weeks, I’ll be following closely and bringing you perspectives from all sides – from the young families finding housing options in neighborhoods they couldn’t otherwise afford, to longtime residents watching their streets transform, to the builders and tradespeople whose livelihoods depend on construction continuing.
What’s clear is that Edmonton’s housing future won’t be settled with simple solutions. The challenge of creating enough homes for our growing population while preserving neighborhood character will require thoughtful compromise and community engagement.
Edmonton’s story continues to be written, block by block, home by home. The question now is whether we need a brief intermission to make sure we’re telling the story we truly want to tell.
