Brian Crombie Radio Hour - Epi 1431 - Sixplexes and Urban Density with John Lorinc

Tonight on The Brian Crombie Hour, Brian interviews John Lorinc. John is a journalist and editor who reports on urban affairs, politics, business, technology, and local history. His work has appeared in The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, The Walrus, Maclean’s, and Spacing, where he is a senior editor. He won the 2019-2020 Atkinson Fellowship in Public Policy for his reporting on politics and governance of smart cities and the 2022 Balsillie Prize for Public Policy for Dream States: Smart Cities, Technology, and the Pursuit of Urban Utopias.John discusses his views on sixplexes and urban density, emphasizing the need for adding density in a way that is acceptable to homeowners while allowing others to live in neighborhoods. He argues that small apartment buildings have historically existed in older parts of Toronto without significant issues and that the city has regulations to manage concerns like parking and tenant behavior. John criticizes suburban councillors for overreacting to exaggerated claims about problematic sixplexes and highlighted the importance of providing housing options for the city's many tenants.  Together John and Brian also discuss transit, tunnels, highways, and how to build a great city.