Calgary Suffering From Its Excess Of Riches

The fallout from a local oil boom has Calgary scrambling to address shortages of labor, housing, office space, and just about everything else.

1 minute read

August 31, 2006, 2:00 PM PDT

By Alex Pearlstein

"(An) oil boom is overwhelming Calgary, a city of one million famous for hosting the 1988 Winter Olympics. Amid an extreme labor shortage, a lack of affordable housing has increased the homeless population to about 3,500 -- a 32% jump in just two years. Companies are elbowing each other out of the way for office space. Developers, stung by higher costs, are planning few new buildings to ease the crunch."

"In the past year, 25,000 people moved here -- about 70 people a day. Demand for property, both residential and commercial, has far outstripped supply."

"Commercial office space is also tight. Calgary's office vacancy rate, at about one-half percent, is among the lowest of any city in the world, according to CB Richard Ellis, a real-estate-services firm...With a dearth of construction workers and a slow permitting process, it can take three years to put up a new building in downtown Calgary."

[Editor's note: Although this article is only available to WSJ subscribers, it is available to Planetizen readers for free through the link below for a period of seven days.]

FULL STORY: Oil-Rich Calgary Finds Boomtimes Have a Downside

Wednesday, August 30, 2006 in The Wall Street Journal

Community / Economic Development Housing Social / Demographics Urban Development Alberta

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