These folks say Yes! to Rezoning for Housing

Stories from Calgarians on why Rezoning for Housing matters to them

We asked folks to share a little story about why rezoning matters for them. Here are a few of our first submissions - look out for more to come!

Want to participate? Tag us on Twitter/X, Instagram and use the hashtag #YesRezoning or simply comment/reply to this post! We’d love to hear about what rezoning means for you and your family.

Alex W: We need to create communities that can adapt as the needs of residents change.

Right now, many of our communities are home to a population significantly smaller than what they had when originally conceived. This has led to declining schools, loss of amenities, and little support for local businesses.

Alex and Hazen saying Yes! to Rezoning for Houisng

Hazen E: I need a Calgary where I belong

We're entering the era of mutual aid. A shadowy realm between governmental failure and a complete societal failure. Youth, especially trans, and especially disabled, are not yet welcome in Calgary. Me and my girlfriend would be unhoused right now if it wasn't for the basic human decency of my parents, what feels like magnanimity to those who aren't so lucky.

There are chatrooms out there filled with people just like me, kicked out of their houses at 18 — they struggle to pin down a job, they struggle to find tolerant roommates, and a surprise eviction may come at any time. We use mutual aid chatrooms to find each other housing, we transgender working poor hide in trench coats like goblins, so that in sharing resources, we may pretend to live a lower-middle-class lifestyle.

Some Calgarians want to pretend that our pain is of equal magnitude to the pain they'll experience walking a couple extra feet from their parking spot, the pain they'll experience watching the sun set behind their neighbour's house an hour earlier. Some of us haven't seen the sun in a very, very long time.

Willem K: I want transit for cheaper!

Our public transit system struggles in large part because of the spread-out, curvy nature of our cities. Changing zoning to allow for more housing types means that more people can live closer to our existing transit system. More neighbours means more riders, and more riders means more financial and political will to improve on the system we have. It's all part of the recipe to keep our taxes low while improving services!

Rowan W: I want housing that fits my needs as a single person

Almost all of Calgary's housing is designed for families, single-family homes and sometimes duplexes. I want a small apartment or rowhouse without a parking spot but its illegal to build those. The apartments that do get built are placed near loud roads and industrial areas. I want to live in the same neighbourhoods as families, where amenities are, in a place built for me.

Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for more stories from Calgarians. And don’t forget to sign up to speak up on April 22!