By 2010, the majority of the world’s population was urban, rather than rural, for the first time. People abandon rural poverty for the hope of a better life in the city. People do not flock to cities “for the fountains” or for “good” urban planning. Densification policy is associated with higher house prices. Quite simply, when the supply of any good is artificially constrained– in this case land– then costs will rise excessively. Because housing is the largest element of household expenditure, it increases the cost of living, reduces affluence and increases poverty.
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Prairie cities are continuing to struggle with high housing costs thanks to the strong economy and a high level of immigration, resulting in even greater pressure. Vacancy rates continue at historic lows. It’s a great time to be a landlord, but a nightmare for many others coping with soaring rents. (~2 min.)
Join us weekly across the prairies for our hard hitting policy commentary broadcast across the Goldenwest Radio Network and more - Click here for a list of 17 stations and broadcast times.
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~43 min
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January 29, 2013 —
Housing Affordability Survey (CJME-R)
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~1 min
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October 29, 2012 —
Steve Lafleur (CBC)
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~2 min
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August 3, 2012 —
Housing Affordability Is Easy
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~15 min
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April 11, 2012 —
The Cost of Smart Growth (CJTR)
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~13 min
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February 21, 2012 —
Growth in the Suburbs (QR77)
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~18 min
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January 30, 2012 —
The Reason for High Housing Prices (CBC)
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~10 min
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January 27, 2012 —
8th Annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey (CJME)
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~17 min
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January 25, 2012 —
8th Annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey (CFAX)
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~55 min
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November 30, 2011 —
Untax Buildings, Uptax Land (de Jong)
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~12 min
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November 28, 2011 —
Economic Rent Capture (CJOB)
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~1 min
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November 4, 2011 —
Home Buyer's Tax Credits Do More Harm Than Good
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~18 min
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November 4, 2011 —
Smart Growth Fails to Combat Poverty (CHQR)
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Latest Publications
— May 23, 2013
In the wake of the post-2008 housing bust, suburbia has become associated with many of the same ills long associated with cities, as our urban-based press corps and cultural elite cheerfully sneer at each new sign of decline, most recently a study released Monday by the Brookings Institution—which has become something of a Vatican for anti-suburban theology—trumpeting the news that there are now 1 million more poor people in America’s suburbs than in its cities.
— April 25, 2013
Participants at a housing innovation and infrastructure forum heard a defence of detached housing and against compact cities. Wendell Cox, an international public policy consultant specializing in urban policy, transport and demographics, told the audience at the forum cities that have urban containment policies push up housing prices and make them less affordable.
— April 16, 2013
Today the Frontier Centre released the backgrounder Toward More Prosperous Cities by Wendell Cox. The objective of public policy should be to achieve wide-spread affluence and eradicate poverty. Cities, urban policy, and urban transport are means to facilitate this objective, not ends themselves.
— April 16, 2013
Beyond the rule of law and security, the most important public policy objectives should be to achieve wide-spread affluence and eradicate poverty. Cities, urban policy, and urban transport are means to facilitate this objective, not ends themselves.
— April 1, 2013
The real issue is how we deal with three concerns: the promotion of families; humane methods to reduce greenhouse gases; and, finally, how to expand the geography of work and opportunity.
— March 20, 2013
The New South Wales government has proposed a new Metropolitan Strategy for the Sydney area which would significantly weaken the urban containment policy (also called urban consolidation, smart growth, livability, growth management, densification, etc.) that has driven if house prices to among the highest in the affluent New World (Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States) relative to household incomes.
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RE: Demographia Housing Affordability Index
— February 6, 2009
What a mess! We’ve created a model of hundreds of centrally planned economies and then we are surprised when there is a lack of supply for the product they are “managing”. Then they want to deal with the mess they have created by throwing more money at “social housing”. And then Sarlo shows that only 18 per cent of the poorest Canadians are in the “social” housing stock. Ha!
E-mail from Vancouver
RE: Helping 21,000 More Manitobans by Selling Public Housing
— October 10, 2008
If there is a need to subsidize housing for individuals or families, it should be done by way of portable housing subsidies that would allow individuals the choice of where they wished to live, not clustered together in an aging complex with an increasing problem of deferred maintenance. There is no pride of ownership in government run housing, there never will be, if private landlords ran their buildings with the same inefficiencies, they would be out of business. When you look at some of the “attempts” to integrate this type of housing in our city over the years you see that rather than integrate into neighborhoods, it’s created undesirable pockets that affect the values of nearby homes. I can’t imagine it gives anyone a sense of pride living in a dilapidated Manitoba Housing project built in a “good” neighborhood.
E-mail from Winnipeg
RE: Poverty Policies Tend to Impoverish
— September 15, 2007
Perhaps letter writer Andrew Bonner should have taken more than just a quick glance around the world when discussing the successes and failures of laissez-faire economics. Ironically, the letter writer lives in London, England, which is proving to be one of the great success stories of laissez-faire economics in the past quarter century. Through reduced regulation and an increased focus on attracting foreign investment, this centre has reversed its general decline and is now, arguably, the most important financial centre in the world and certainly in Europe. Yet another success story is a short plane trip away in Ireland, where economic growth rates have been among the highest in Europe for years, due in large part to low taxation and low government spending policies. Meanwhile, on the continent, in the so-called high-tax countries of France, Italy and Germany, economic growth has been stagnant, resulting in high unemployment and social discourse. Even Sweden, which is often cited by proponents of social welfare policies, has felt the rising pressures on its fiscal policies. In light of this, the people of Sweden recently elected a more fiscally conservative government, as did the French and Germans. It is incorrect to blindly state that the best way to alleviate poverty is the inefficient and wasteful social welfare systems currently in place in Canada and Manitoba. - Letter to editor, Winnipeg Free Press, Craig White, Winnipeg
RE: On the Ideal City
— May 27, 2005
Absolutely superb. Well done! On some of the steering committees I've been involved with that deal with urban planning and fiscal incentives I've raised similar issues (before reading this, which just reinforces my values) - I've managed to sway the debate back to a more balanced perspective, away from this nuttiness. E-mail from Ontario
RE: Lower Rural Prices a Benefit
— July 17, 2007
We are no where close the to the typical Toronto-based media portrayal of rural areas as being places of no jobs and no hope to earn a living. However, we are achieving this success in spite of, instead of because of, national and provincial public policies. Email from rural Manitoba
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Canada’s Housing Bubble?
Insofar as the economy recovers and/or government debt borrowing leads to an interest rate spike, the demand for housing will decrease, perhaps substantially, depending on the magnitude of the increase. In line with that scenario, if the rate increases are substantial over the next five years, some over-leveraged homeowners will be in a pickle. The claimed non-bubble may well start to look pricked.
Media Release - Municipal Land-Grabbing Powers Should be Curtailed
This example demonstrates the need for clear legislative reform for individual property owners who find themselves in similar situations. A process to allow municipalities to expropriate for dubious economic development purposes also exists in other provinces and in jurisdictions outside Canada. However, there are encouraging signs in that many jurisdictions, particularly in the United States, have taken proactive steps to prevent this abuse of individual property rights; as such, they provide a model for Canadian provinces.
"Smart Growth"
All in all, there is no reason to hobble the economy with smart growth policies that would reduce home ownership and worsen traffic congestion. Canada's urban areas and their residents will be far better served by a continuation of the land-use policies that have made them such good places to live. With appropriate consideration of the environment, Canada's high quality of suburban life is surely sustainable.
The Portland Epistles: More Delusion
Portland's "smart growth" land rationing has driven median house prices up 60 percent relative to historic levels, even while forcing new houses onto postage stamp lots. All of this means that younger households and lower income households (which are disproportionately minority, even in elitist Portland) have less hope of climbing on the home ownership ladder of opportunity.
Efficient Rental Markets
Conventional economics anticipates that because landlords supply rental housing voluntarily, they will react to government-stipulated standards and compliance by either exiting the market or raising prices.
Housing Affordablilty – The Global Perspective
Regardless of where you live in the world, one can buy most needs and wants from a variety of places: food from France, cars from Japan, and oil from Oman at the world price. In contrast, perhaps the most obvious feature of houses is that they are not very mobile. For homes, you must buy those available in your local market, or uproot yourself and move.
The Case for Selling Public Housing in Manitoba
The removal of direct ownership by government will translate in more public dollars available for more families—for 21,000 more Manitobans if Manitoba’s government-owned housing stock were sold. Those additional 21,000 people could be assisted because scarce public capital would be recovered through the sale of public housing.
Let's Worry about Stagnation, not Sprawl
The evidence of Winnipeg's relative decline in size over the last half century indicates a policy direction that discourages, not encourages economic growth. The interest urban policy makers have in models that restrict urban sprawl miss the point. "Smart growth" and "compact city" measures are an unnecessary prescription for a problem that doesn't exist in Winnipeg. Even more restrictive land use regulations will further stunt what little growth there is. An aggressive agenda to promote urban expansion - competitive taxes, deregulation of planning, the revamping of building and zoning codes, the removal of rent control to build residential density in the core, transit reform, an aggressive immigration policy -holds more potential for the reversal of Winnipeg's obvious relative decline.
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Upcoming EventsMore events coming soon. Please join us then as we explore the frontier of public policy.
 Policy matters . . .
Upcoming FCPP Appearances
Community Policy Forum
Speaker: Steve Lafleur, FCPP Policy Analyst
Date: May 28, 2013
Time: 7:00 - 9:00 pm
Place: Grant Park McNally Robinson, Winnipeg, Mb
Thu May 23, 2013
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