Toronto's condos are bursting with babies - and the city needs to accommodate them: report
A new report reveals the number of preschool-aged children has doubled in the last 10 years

cbc.ca
By Ali Chiasson
June 29, 2017

Many of Toronto's downtown condo buildings are now brimming with children - and the pressure is on to transform those concrete blocks into family-friendly neighbourhoods.

City council will debate draft guidelines next week that could prompt developers to include larger units in new buildings, one of the suggestions that came out of public consultations with those living in so-called vertical communities.

"We've seen, in one neighbourhood, a tripling of the number of kids," said Sean Meagher, Social Planning Toronto's executive director about the condos along the waterfront.

The non-profit civic organization has just released a report, which found that the number of preschool-aged kids in Toronto has doubled in the last 10 years.

That's partly because the singletons for whom the condos were designed have ended up staying put because of affordability, Meagher said.

"The millennials started out in those condos and imagined they'd move somewhere else later," he said. "But life caught up to them and they're finding ways to make it work."

The number of condo-dwelling families is a sign of the city's economic growth as it attracts young workers. But that means the city needs to design its infrastructure to meet the demands of those wee residents and retain their parents.

"The local park has to be your backyard and your local library and community centres become their recreation rooms," Meagher said.

But Meagher said the city needs to go further - by building more parks and community centres, but also by putting pressure on developers to think about families at the design phase.

If the city approves the draft guidelines from the Growing Up study, it will do just that.

If the guidelines are approved, staff will monitor the number of family-friendly two- and three-bedroom units built through the development approvals process for the next two years - to see whether developers respond to demand from families or if the city will have to implement a quota.

Council to vote on family-friendly condo guidelines

"It's in the developer's best interest to jump on the band wagon here," said Ann-Marie Nasr, manager of strategic development with the city's planning department.

"We want to ensure we have diverse housing communities so people can live their whole life [in their condos.]"

Condo residents told CBC Toronto in its Vertical City series that they were most excited about having more space for play and an increase in stock of two- and three-bedroom units.

Nasr, who helped develop the recommendations, said the city wants to get developers to consider including integrated child care in some of their future buildings.