Hard to overstate how crazy this is. Vancouver planners designed the multiplex zoning so that multiplexes would be barely competitive with single-family houses. If we cared about housing supply, we would make them *more* attractive, so they outcompete SFHs.
Michael Wiebe
@michael_wiebe
Sep 23
Replying to @michael_wiebe
The 2023 multiplex legalization tells a similar story. The city deliberately nerfed multiplexes so they wouldn't lead to more redevelopment. Planners limited a fourplex unit to 1000sqft, when a detached house could be 2800sqft. 3/

Sep 24, 2026 · 11:51 PM UTC

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Replying to @michael_wiebe
Yes the narrative of “land lift via upzoning” has been a real problem for many years in the detached home space
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Creating land value is good, actually!
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Replying to @michael_wiebe
Sounds like Vancouver planners work in a system which incentivizes doing nothing Like gravekeepers at cemetaries
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Yup blog.michaelwiebe.com/p/how-…

How Vancouver planned a housing shortage

The city put neighbourhood character first and housing supply second

blog.michaelwiebe.com
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Replying to @michael_wiebe
They did more recently remove the more punitive density bonus fee for (west side) multiplex. So they are taking their thumb off that scale metering viability a bit better.
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