NIMBYism still an issue for high-density housing in Waterloo Region: Advocate

Anytime the topic of high-density housing is brought up there is sure to be a contingent that says they support the idea, just not in their backyard (NIMBY).

It’s an attitude that has delayed movement on the housing crisis not just in Waterloo Region but across the province.

At the moment, two developments are facing stiff NIMBY opposition. The first is a planned subdivision in Wilmot that will include stacked townhomes and small apartment buildings amid single family homes. The second is an apartment build on the land owned by Trinity United Church in Elmira.

Although those communities desperately need more high-density housing, continued opposition is gumming up the works.

The NIMBY attitude is a great source of frustration for local housing advocates, including Philip Mills, CEO, Habitat for Humanity Waterloo Region.

He told The Mike Farwell Show, as a society we have reached a point where the only path left to fix the housing shortage is the path forward.

“I don’t know if we’re just lying to ourselves as a community where we say ‘Hey, we can keep things the way they are. The community as it is now can stay. We can recreate that space we remember.’ But, we’re long past that opportunity. We don’t have an opportunity to go backwards.”

Mills said the communities are seeing the effects of not having enough housing.

“Not having enough work. Not having enough workers. Not having enough nurses. Not having enough teachers. Not having enough tradespeople and restaurant workers. All those places that we want to be a part of, that help to make the community. Those can’t exist without people to work in them.”

“If we don’t have housing. If we don’t have spaces for the community, the things that make this community great will start to participate,” he added.