04-15-2012, 07:10 PM

The builders will cram whatever they can build that a buyer is willing to buy. If those houses are sold, and are that crammed next to each other, which is something I hate, then good for the builders. I would rather live somewhere a bit farther with a bunch of personal space. My uncle lives in Canada, so I know what the OP was talking about, but there are just as many places that have open land housing. It's the dense, key cities where you notice this cramming of houses, which can also be found in U.S. cities.

My take on it is, if I can stretch my body, from fingers to toes, and I can touch my house and my neighbors at once, forget about it!

04-15-2012, 07:50 PM

Originally Posted by Razormac

Have been watching Holmes Inspection and Holmes on Homes (I'm a big Mike Holmes fan) and have a question.

The great majority of homes Mike deals with are multi-family dwellings, what we call down south Condos or Town Houses. Why is that?

Canada is larger in area than the US with about 1/10 the population, but housing seems far more clustered and compact than where I live.

We (Canadians) have British roots that were maintained longer than the US. Think of Boston or New York, but the model continuing into the early 1900's. Old duplexes, etc.

The US adopted a model that involved subdivisions, etc. More population could support the larger lots (roads, police, fire departments).

04-16-2012, 08:54 AM

When we were looking at houses before buying this one a few years back, we checked out some of the newer houses, and these ones were being shoehorned into available alleyways here in Toronto. I was amazed, and how even with my toyota matrix, not a big car, it was a tight squeeze to go down the street, and try to turn into the driveway, nevermind the garage. Everything was built like a hallway, the whole house. This whole condo thing which is out of control here in Toronto, is insane in how they have managed to squeeze in these cages everywhere, and they sell for anywhere from 300k and up!

Makes me wonder what 50 years from now would be like. A friend from Tokyo told me it's far worse there than it is here. Amazing.

04-16-2012, 09:07 AM

Originally Posted by Groovetube

When we were looking at houses before buying this one a few years back, we checked out some of the newer houses, and these ones were being shoehorned into available alleyways here in Toronto. I was amazed, and how even with my toyota matrix, not a big car, it was a tight squeeze to go down the street, and try to turn into the driveway, nevermind the garage. Everything was built like a hallway, the whole house. This whole condo thing which is out of control here in Toronto, is insane in how they have managed to squeeze in these cages everywhere, and they sell for anywhere from 300k and up!

Makes me wonder what 50 years from now would be like. A friend from Tokyo told me it's far worse there than it is here. Amazing.

I have a Matrix too, so I can imagine.

Thanks BTW for the comments, makes it a lot more clear. Guess my only real question left is why not expand North and get some breathing room? Does the weather deteriorate that quickly as you move away from the lakes?
Or, is it more of an societal inertia thing along the lines of what Van mentioned?

That is where the jobs, infrastructure etc already are . . .

My mental image tends to be like Dallas Fort Worth. Large population, but no real physical barriers so it continues to grow at the edges.

04-16-2012, 10:12 AM

They are moving outwards - you should see how fast the subdivisions are springing up around the GTA (Greater Toronto Area). In fact, the regions around Toronto are some of the fastest growing areas in the country (along with massive growth in Alberta). So, it does sound like it's similar to Dallas-Fort Worth in that respect.

As for the weather, it depends where you head. Going north, there can be quite a change once you hit Barrie (that's about 90-100 km or 56-62 miles) - people pretty much need snowblowers which are not necessary in Toronto. In all honesty though, the weather is weird in this country...haha.

04-17-2012, 02:48 PM

ha ha yeah. So many times I've come in from the north from a gig late night, wee hours and after coming through a snow storm, see it virtually disappear within a half hour coming into GTA. I see the pictures of just an hour north (Barrie) and wow. We never get anywhere near what they get.

It is a very big difference just and hour plus north in terms of weather. My wife is headed to Edmonton today on Business (she was just in Kansas city) so she's going from south, to what is in Canada really far north.

I travelled from sea to shining sea in this country, and the coldest place I've ever been was december in Fort McMurray. They wouldn't let us touch our gear for a couple hours after coming out of the truck. That place was cold. (think it was -55c)