Decoding Density

New possibilities for housing require us to challenge old codes and building requirements to make new buildings that are affordable and awesome.

My friend Utaye Lee is going to change the way we live in Canada - and you can help.

Uytae Lee is an urban planner and videographer with a passion for sharing stories about our cities. He began his career almost a decade ago in Halifax where he founded ‘Planifax’, a non-profit dedicated to engaging the public on urban planning issues through video. Today, Uytae lives in Vancouver - ground zero of what’s wrong with housing and cities in Canada. He’s going right to the heart of the matter.

Sidebar - He’s also a pretty great ukulele player.

In his most recent video, he’s got right down to the one thing that’s making our new urbanism awful.

Once you see the problem you’ll never look at your city the same again. And in a flash, you’ll see the key difference between places like New Halifax, and the places you like.

The good news is… it can be fixed! Easily.

Are you ready?

The big problem is…

Staircases.

More exactly, 19th-century problems, that led to 20th-century fears, that gave us 21st-century building codes that protect us from 19th-century problems and make our cities kind of miserable in the bargain.

This is a uniquely Made in Canada solution/problem. No other country in the world imposed such extreme rules, and no other country is suffering needlessly quite in the way Canada is today with housing.

We can fix this - with one small re-coding, we can make our cities and buildings better for the rising generation, and change the shape of things to come.

All you have to do is watch this short video and share what you’ve learned.

The country is genuinely looking for solutions to housing. This one thing can change everything.