BILD Edmonton Metro launches urban growth case study

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4 days ago

As the population continues to rise in Edmonton, BILD Edmonton Metro's latest report makes the case for expanding outward by highlighting the billion dollars invested by developers in the Heritage Valley and Windermere communities, which is expected to produce a few hundred million dollars in tax revenue for the city.
'The urban growth case study invites us to embrace growth as a catalyst for a more vibrant, inclusive, and prosperous future, rather than viewing it as a challenge that we need to manage,' said Katrina Rowe, president of Cantiro Communities and BILD Edmonton Metro's board chairwoman.
In its urban growth case study, released Tuesday, BILD Edmonton Metro breaks down the 'costs, revenues, and qualities' of both the Windermere and Heritage Valley planned communities. The study highlights the investment by developers that helped build the neighbourhoods, the cost to the city to maintain them, and the subsequent property tax influx that the areas contribute to the city's budget, among other things. With the study's findings as evidence, BILD Edmonton Metro sought to dispel the idea that growth for the city is expensive and, in so doing, advocates for further future community planning in the city's future growth areas that were annexed in 2019.
'Now is not the time to introduce roadblocks or undo meaningful progress that we've achieved together. That's why today's urban growth study is so significant. One of the most important contributions is dispelling a persistent myth that growth is somehow a burden on the city. In reality, this study shows how development of new neighbourhoods is strategic,' said Mike Kohl, senior vice-president of Alberta communities with Brookfield Residential, who spoke at Tuesday's announcement.
According to the study, at full buildout, it found that $3.2 billion in capital will be invested by developers into the communities of Heritage Valley and Windermere to fund critical infrastructure like roads, stormwater systems, and drainage. Full buildout for Windermere includes ongoing expansion south to 41 Avenue SW, which adds roughly an additional one-third to what has already been built. For Heritage Valley, the full buildout similarly spreads south to 41 Avenue SW, and also east to Calgary Trail. In all, both developments are expected to be home to more than 136,000 residents once finished.
Once finished and turned over to the city, the study found that it takes $14 million and $9.7 million to maintain the roads and parks, respectively. At full buildout, the study found that the two communities will generate an additional $309 million in property taxes for the city annually.
The study's methodology cites data from the City of Edmonton as having informed its findings, but said that due to a lack of data on 'unit costs or neighbourhood costs for city services, operations, and maintenance,' it used the Kendal Integrated Infrastructure Master Plan (IIMP) to 'approximate costs based on the dwelling units and population for the entire study area.'
On the intangible benefits of suburban communities, Sandeep Agrawal, founding director of the School of Urban and Regional Planning and associate dean at the University of Alberta, said the make up of who lives in the suburbs has changed.
'We need to rethink outdated assumptions about who lives in the suburbs and why do they live there,' said Agrawal, adding 'today, 40 per cent of Edmonton's population identifies itself as visible minority. In Edmonton immigrants tend to settle in suburban areas, mainly around Anthony Henday Drive to the south and west and closer to Anthony Henday Drive in the northeast.
'This suburban migration reflects a national trend, and the question is, why? Because suburbs offer three critical things — affordability, community networks and culturally responsive services,' said Agrawal.
Building new communities comes with costs to the city as it generates new transit, libraries, recreation centres, police and fire requirements in new areas. BILD's study shows relatively low police and fire costs early on, as new areas with lower initial populations tend to need less policing upfront. However determining the future costs of services like rec centres, libraries, and transit centres proved more difficult predict, according to Lindsey Butterfield, vice-president of government relations and policy with BILD Edmonton Metro, who is also lead author of the report.
'It was a bit of a challenge to look at some of those costs for things like transit, like libraries, because the city doesn't break them down by neighbourhood. So it was difficult to get an understanding. We had to extrapolate based on other studies that were available without understanding the true cost,' said Butterfield.
Rowe argued that when the population is growing, it doesn't matter where the growth is happening, because city services like policing, rec centres, and libraries would have to be bolstered regardless.
'Population growth has extra costs no matter where it goes,' said Rowe.
While Rowe reaffirmed the organization's support for infill housing in mature neighbourhoods closer to the city's core, she said there is also a need for more growth in new communities. With Heritage Valley and Windermere having taken more than 25 years to plan and build, Rowe said the timeline for future planning is tight.
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