Letters to the Editor: Reader calls for more context, recognition of ‘housing crisis’ in coverage of development proposals

When it comes to proposals for new multi-story residential housing in the area, the coverage by Beach Metro Community News seems to reflect only one perspective: the voices of immediate neighbours concerned about things like building height, traffic congestion, disruption during construction, and change, in general.

The paper seems unwilling to seek out alternative narratives, such as the demand for housing in a market with too little supply; or the pressure on all levels of government to deal with something called ‘the housing crisis’; or how about this one: where are our children going to live if we don’t build more housing?

The near-hysterical opposition to the Glen Stewart Ravine development was a recent case in point, with every conceivable reason NOT to build covered in forensic detail.

I don’t recall reading about why we might need more housing in the area.

In the Jan. 20 edition of Beach Metro Community News, we read about the prospect of an 11-storey building near Main Street and Gerrard Street East. Again, not a word on why these 56 residential units might be needed, but lots of complaints from local small businesses on how the construction will be disruptive.

It’s not as though new building proposals arise out of thin air, in a political or economic vacuum, with no context to draw on in writing a news story.

It can’t be that difficult to provide such context, by finding a pro-housing advocate to interview (there must be a few in Toronto), or even just relying on the well-chronicled housing crisis facts and figures on the websites of governments, think tanks and advocacy groups.

We can’t wring our hands about the lack of housing and then, in the next breath, find fault with every attempt to build in our own neighbourhood.

Michael Mouritsen