Two readings linked from tweets that came in on the same day, one from Toronto, the other from Vancouver – with the same story to tell.
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BOOK: Carsick: Reclaiming Our Cities from the Automobile
Peak car is here, proclaims urban affairs columnist Christopher Hume in his new Star Dispatches ebook. In this excerpt he tells of signs in the tea leaves — from youth obsession with smartphones to plans for parking-space-free condos — that point to a less auto-bound future for cities.
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“The trend away from driving has been led by young people,” noted the authors of a recent study by the United States Public Interest Research Group. …
Also new is the radical notion of the car as an appliance rather than an extension of the buyer’s personality, an adornment or a statement. Boomers may define themselves through their vehicles, but their progeny less so. Young professionals living in closet-sized downtown condos can get most everywhere they want by walking, biking, taxis and transit. Their apartments are so small they inhabit the city in ways their parents would never have considered. Their dining room is the closest restaurant, their backyard the neighbourhood park. Because they live close to the places where they work and play, there’s little need to own a car. When need arises, they rent one, sometimes by the hour. A new industry has sprung up with companies such as Car2Go and Zipcar operating out of local parking lots. …
One the most striking examples of this change is the advent of the car-less condo.
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COLUMN: InGastown trades cars for condos
From the very-difficult-to-find-online real-estate column in the Georgia Straight.
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Last month, Key Marketing announced an innovative approach that enables people to convert their car into home equity at a 61-unit project called InGastown.
They just have to drive their car to a presentation centre at 32 Water Street to have the vehicle’s value assessed. If they’re satisfied with the valuation, they can, for instance, put this amount toward a down payment on a 501-square-foot suite, which My Gastown Development is selling for $269,800. …
Of those who filed applications … 31 percent were already living rent-free. This meant they were likely living under the same roof as their parents. Among those saying they were tenants, their average monthly rent was $1,241. Another statistic: renters who expressed interest in the building said they could currently save, on average, about $500 per month above their rent.
However, many hadn’t set aside funds for a down payment, which is why the car-for-condo concept resonated with them. To reach the required five-percent down payment, 61 percent of applicants would have to turn over their cars. …
The car-for-condo marketing plan comes at a time when young people are driving far less than previous generations did at their age. Toronto-based architect and urban designer Ken Greenberg, author of Walking Home: The Life and Lessons of a City Builder, has tracked this phenomenon.
Last year in an interview with the Straight, Greenberg said that across North America, 26 percent of those between 16 and 34 years old haven’t bothered getting a driver’s licence. He said that many of them want to live in walkable neighbourhoods built before the Second World War.
Do you want to buy in a building where [and to be managed by] 61% couldn’t save up for a downpayment and had to sell their cars to get a 5% downpayment?