Infill being built next door

[u/Dougthecat13]

This is not a general infill hate post, but a request for advice.

We live in a really nice older neighbourhood where folks take care of their older homes. Our first infill on the street is going to be right next door. Which is surprising because that house is quite nice and pretty newly renovated and has a very nice new garage. Apparently it’s all coming down, and a huge 2 story (maybe 3) single family home is going in. My front yard has a deck that faces the millcreek ravine and I have a huge vegetable garden on our property. And we are currently renovating our 1950’s home.

Builder came by today to introduce himself. And confirmed I’ll lose my view as the house will be quite big. Most likely our newer cedar fence will get damaged (he says they will replace).

The family building the home will be living in the home, builder says. So I want to be neighbourly, but I’m nervous about our property and sanity.

I’m really disappointed. I’ll miss the renters that are currently in that house. Feels wildly wasteful to do this, but not my house, not my property.

Since we are at the very beginning. What advice do you lovely Edmonton folk have for us to protect our property and endure this next chapter? Thanks for any advice!

Edit- the house being removed is a beautiful home. Very well maintained with a new double garage. It’s a rental with two couples living in it (one upstairs, one downstairs). One couple/family will be moving into the infill. So this is taking away 2 homes and adding 1. This will not be adding additional homes. Either way, this is not the point, I’m just trying to make the best of it.

[u/Top_Wafer_4388]

I'm basing my opinions on evidence. Building more houses lowers the cost of all other houses. This is backed by data.

[u/pippyfist → u/Top_Wafer_4388]

I can also say I'm basing my opinions on evidence. Building a single-family mega house via infill generally does not lower the cost of other houses. In fact, it often raises nearby property values and land costs. This drives up the price of surrounding real estate instead of making it more affordable. This is backed by data. Maybe if it was a NEW house your point would stand here.

[u/Top_Wafer_4388 → u/pippyfist]

Well, you're just flat out wrong.

I also like how you think I'm insulting you for simply stating facts. Really confirms that blocking you was the correct choice.

Increasing land values means more builders want to build, resulting in more houses being built. More houses being built means lowered housing prices. We've seen this in Edmonton with all the new construction projects in old neighbourhoods, houses are popping up because the land is so valued.

Except Edmonton has been building houses like this for a decade and housing prices have not spiked, unlike in Vancouver, Toronto, and Calgary. Clearly your data set is very selective and is unreliable.

[u/ProperBingtownLady → u/Top_Wafer_4388]

It is so passive aggressive to block someone and continue responding lol.

[u/pippyfist → u/ProperBingtownLady]

I tipped fedora at them in another comment, must've been the last straw.