In major Canadian cities, especially Toronto and Vancouver, families are increasingly living in tight quarters. Some parents are choosing to prioritize being able to walk to work, cafés, cultural centres and sports facilities?perks that were especially enticing pre-pandemic. As Annely Zonena, a project manager in Strategic Initiatives in Toronto?s City Planning Division, describes it, ?You get a pass to the Royal Ontario Museum and that can become a weekly excursion for your children. The richness that access to cultural facilities and great-quality parks provides families is something that people are often willing to trade for a quieter life with a yard.?
But many parents don?t see their small-living footprint as a choice. They can?t afford detached or semi-detached homes in the city they work in. And it?s not possible for them to commute from the office to the suburbs and still make the child-care pickup time. So a condo, apartment or compact townhome can be the only option. The most recent data from the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board puts detached and semi-detached homes at $1.5 and $1.2 million respectively, while the average price for a two-bedroom Toronto condo is between $650,000 and $900,000. Rent for a house can cost $4,000 a month, while a two-bedroom condo is averaging $2,700. It?s not surprising, then, that according to a City of Toronto report conducted over ten years, 15,000 more households with children were living in high-rise buildings. Photo: Carmen C...