Carolyn Whitzman

3 weeks ago | albertaviews.ca | Ximena Gonzalez |Carolyn Whitzman

As rents continue to rise in Alberta, a lack of non-market housing, or housing not subject to investor speculation, is exacerbating the challenges experienced by lower-income folks, many of whom increasingly spend most of their wages in rent or take additional jobs to make ends meet. But our province is not alone.

Oct 16, 2024 | monitor.co.ug | Carolyn Whitzman

By Carolyn Whitzman Imagine planning a public transport system for a large city by providing one bus at a time on one route that might serve a few dozen people (but nobody knows how many). That is what planning for housing affordability looks like in most capital cities; innovative projects take years to develop and never get scaled up into a system. Who can we learn from?

Sep 25, 2024 | thepeterboroughexaminer.com | Carolyn Whitzman

Last week, the federal government announced new rules that will allow homebuyers to pay mortgage instalments over 30 rather than 25 years and take on more debt through smaller down payments. It is being pitched as a way to increase affordability, especially for first time homebuyers. But by focusing on increasing individual debt loads rather than increasing low-cost supply, the change does little to help those who need secure, well-located homes the most.

May 31, 2024 | albertaviews.ca | Carolyn Whitzman

As a nation, in the next decade we need to build three million new homes renting for around $1,050/month, and another two million renting for less than $2,580. That, in a nutshell, is the housing challenge for Canada. Every five years Canada’s census measures “core housing need”—the number of households whose homes are unaffordable, overcrowded or in need of major repairs. Housing is considered unaffordable when it costs more than 30 per cent of that household’s pre-tax income.

Apr 5, 2024 | spacing.ca | John Lorinc |Carolyn Whitzman

The Liberal’s housing, infrastructure and communities minister Sean Fraser is by far the most entertaining politician on the national scene these days, what with his performatively insouciant policy videos, as well as an interesting confection of progressive cockiness and East Coast bonhomie. The guy’s all arms and legs and stubbled jaw line. While I’ve never met him, there’s no way Fraser doesn’t use that height to convey precisely enough alpha to cause his opponents to sniff the air warily.