Towers are the only way to increase density. Building into the sky, taking up a smaller footprint, and creating shared access to water, sewer, electricity, and parking is the best way to put more people in a smaller space.

Love it or hate it, in 20 years, I suspect we will be surrounded by towers in Pointe-Claire. Canada’s population will increase by 17% in the next 16 years; it’s happening, you can’t stop it, and all we can do as residents is (maybe) have some input on aesthetics.

The West Island is no stranger to development. We have been confronted with excavators and tall buildings since forever. We were farmland before, so 99% of us are living in homes thanks to development and new construction.

But from time immemorial, people have hated change. Looking back to 1959, there was a huge outcry about the construction of the Trans-Canada highway: who would pay, how much, and where exactly it would be built? Pointe-Claire City Council actually put the project on hold until a suitable outcome was decided in 1961. We are thankful today for the highway, but acceptance came over time. It takes time to find solutions that benefit the community. And with time comes familiarity and acceptance.

Back in the mid-1960s, the mayor of Westmount was compelled to write two heartfelt – and long –  letters to his constituents to get them to accept Westmount Square, the now-celebrated Mies Van der Rohe buildings.

Photo “Why does Westmount need to develop?” letter excerpt.

For the tower haters out there: I get you. But do you really think the future cities of planet Earth will choose to build more single-family homes? Whether in marshy Mexico City, Richmond, British Columbia, or the earthquake-prone West Coast, towers are the best way to accommodate our growing population. In the Netherlands, they even found a way to build a forest inside a skyscraper. 

Since towers are inevitable, we need to find the most appropriate places to put them. The current trend seems to be to put them near malls to ensure that residents are near transportation hubs, grocers, and retail, and hopefully in proximity to schools, community centres, and parks. Despite following this logic, many such developments have recently faced their share of neighbourly outrage.

In Vancouver, BC, the new Oakridge Park project involves the reconstruction of Oakridge Mall, transforming the site into a multi-tower hub with 2,600 homes for 6,000 residents. The project will also include more than 300 retail stores, office space for 3,000 workers, a community centre, a daycare, a library, green space, and venues for live performances. Like Pointe-Claire’s Fairview mall, it is right on the SkyTrain (REM) line, deep in a residential area, and on a major thoroughfare.

The design is appealing and works with other large nearby buildings, and the mall is expected to open in 2025, and the whole complex in 2027. But a lot of residents were angry. 

Daunting tower heights were among the concerns voiced at the meeting, but smaller details of the plan were also under scrutiny, with one, in particular, hitting home for most: “There is a 30-year legal obligation for the developer to give us a park,” a resident said. “At that time it was 10 per cent of the area, which is 2.8 acres.” The new project opens early next year, and it looks like the rooftop park is still in the plan.

In Toronto, the Mirvish Village project is unique: it’s 100% rentals, including lots of vibrant public spaces, and intermixed with the towers will be restaurants and shops. It’s located on Bloor Street, which is all retail and restaurants, and bordered by the TTC subway system and major bus routes. But knocking down the Honest Ed’s building was traumatic, and many locals couldn’t wrap their heads around the new development: “Like most of Toronto, I was shocked by the 2013 news that (Honest Ed’s) was being replaced by a 1.3-million-square-foot multi-purpose development, involving new retail shops and 900 rental units with 2,000 residents.”

The project was meant to be completed by 2023, with renters having moved in, but as of February 2024, the ground-level gathering space is still being constructed. Restaurants have rental contracts, and all seems to be going according to plan, just later than anticipated. 

Don’t fear the inevitable tower. Fear the development application promises that don’t materialize. The main reason for these broken promises is money. The interval between design concept and shovels in the ground can be years, and long wait times mean that prices of materials go up, costs of labour and developer cost charges increase, while anticipated profits drop.

I would not go as far as removing all development cost charges to speed up development as the CMHC does, but if we have to live with tall towers, we should get some greenspace back in return. Developers are now giving each other shoutouts for who can build the tallest building, but let’s see them compete over who can put the most oxygen back into our atmosphere. 

Trees and grass aren’t going to pay rent, but they can make the difference between acceptance and outright resident hostility. I hope that innovative, green, and sustainable designs are part of Pointe-Claire’s future.