Ask Me Anything: Housing, Transit, and Our Podcast’s Future

In this special Ask Me Anything episode of The Missing Middle, the full team answers your biggest viewer questions on housing, transit, immigration, and affordability — and we share a major announcement about the future of the podcast. We also introduce our newest team member and talk candidly about why this work hits close to home for so many Canadians.The conversation dives into walkable neighbourhoods and small businesses, why governments struggle to act on housing affordability, the taboo around discussing immigration and housing together, transit as a pressure valve for urban sprawl, and why seniors are stuck in family-sized homes. Plus, we explain what’s changing on the show, including two new weekly episodes, DemograFix and Classonomics, and what it means for listeners going forward.Chapters00:00 Ask Me Anything 2025 and look ahead00:45 Meet our editor/technical producer Sean Foreman03:01 Introducing the new podcast DemograFix03:52 Introducing Classonomics04:16 You don’t need to do anything, we promise 🙂05:01 Meredith’s take on the future of Missing Middle podcasts07:29 Question from Matthieu Gagnon about walkability09:56 Rahim Ismail’s Question about the government being out of touch12:34 Examining the intentionality of the government's lack of response15:36 Chosing one stakeholder over another16:46  Vanessa MacDonald’s question about talking about immigration policy20:49 Daniel D'Angela’s question about good transit22:57 Seniors downsizing and banning all foreign ownershipResearch/links:Can Tax Reform Help Young People Afford Homes?https://youtu.be/rW9QZ91lF9k?si=lep3WbEYfmZATaUQ2025 Provincial HOMES Report Cardhttps://www.missingmiddleinitiative.ca/p/2025-provincial-homes-report-cardThe Positive Utility of the Commute: Modeling Ideal Commute Time and Relative Desired Commute Amounthttps://www.researchgate.net/publication/263313349_The_Positive_Utility_of_the_Commute_Modeling_Ideal_Commute_Time_and_Relative_Desired_Commute_AmountMeasuring the Local Economic Impacts of Replacing On-Street Parking With Bike Laneshttps://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01944363.2019.1638816Hosted by Mike Moffatt & Cara Stern & Sabrina MaddeauxProduced by Meredith MartinFunded by the Neptis Foundation https://neptis.org/