Who’d have thought, the unsexy phrase, “nodes and corridors” would become a slogan of those wishing to express displeasure at the concept of introducing townhouses into the low density communities closest to downtown. The phrase is both planning jargon, yet familiar, so appears to pass a sniff test for knee-jerk rejection of townhouse building by offering a technocrat sounding solution. If only we’d pursue a “nodes and corridors” policy, all will be well, and the city can simply move on to more important matters, putting to rest this divisive blanket rcg zoning hearing debacle.
Upon closer examination, the phrase simply falls apart as a means of legit policy defence against townhousing. Look at any local area plan, these take the “nodes” like transit hubs, and the adjacent zoning policy begins where townhouse zoning ends. The “nodes” are already nominated for taller residential and mixed use buildings. Same with “corridors” where the city has launched main streets initiatives, townhouses are not found on these major thoroughfares. Instead, where the city has decided to initiate land use changes, it, not surprisingly, nominates areas of land that can really move the needle on creating meaningful supply. In a city this large, there is no theoretical limit for building condos. Vast land exists already capable of housing thousands of units, for example, just the surface lots outside of box stores, strip malls, and office towers offer major density potential.
The problem with condo density, it is all the wrong product. One and two bed units are in ample supply, what is needed is family sized housing, at a lower cost. This starts with townhouses, wood framed, grade oriented, near amenities, in all the usual inner city communities. Simply building condos does create density, but it has no impact on filling that missing middle between a small condo and a costly, semi detached, new infill home. This is the space the townhouse fills, yet attracts so much angst than sporadically built condo towers.
Even worse, “nodes and corridors” represents a straw man upon which to hang the newfound blended overall density of a community. If that abandoned gas station on the periphery can be replaced with a tower, one can argue that the entire community has now added 100 units. Thus, over the entirety of the community, it can raise the average to an acceptable level, that the cherished, quiet streets, filled only with single homes, can remain frozen in amber, and opposition to townhouses is morally justifiable, after all just look at what strides the progressive group has made to welcome density. And of course, any community leader can always find a suitable, decrepit, abandoned department store to nominate for density. Those areas have been written off since the establishment of the community, and are only now worthy spots to have other people live because the location is on the outskirts and its development poses no cost to the detached home owner. As if, somehow, all the future residents of the area will gladly move in to that turnpike adjacent tower, grateful to the community nearby for its sacrifice of providing a place of sanctuary.
Worse still, the “nodes and corridors” approach is just spending someone elses investment capital without bothering to notify them. It assumes that those with the capital are incapable of discernment among available development opportunities. Let me suggest the holders of ‘smart money’ are very experienced in how to best deploy their capital to a long and risky development. Perhaps that gas station turnpike spot isn’t coveted enough to incent a developer to invest tens of million of dollars in a grade C location or a contaminated brownfield.
One common theme in my townhouse building experience has been to find great locations inside the community where people will actually aspire to live. Once my building is complete, I want to actually be able to fill it. Sadly, “nodes and corridors” are the places I avoid when deploying my scarce investment cash. To me “nodes and corridors” is a mantra that is only useful as guidance on how not to make mistakes in townhouse building.