Parkview residents protest infill housing surge, citing exodus of long-time neighbours

About 200 residents gathered in Parkview on Sunday to protest a series of infill projects they say are transforming the neighbourhood into an exodus zone. Protesters from Parkview, Crestwood, Laurier, and West Jasper Place assembled near the intersection of 88 Avenue and 147 Street, where a seven-unit infill project is under construction and seven houses in the immediate area have been sold and will be redeveloped.

The protest reflects tension around Edmonton's zoning bylaws. An omnibus bylaw approved by the previous city council permits mid-block infill developments of up to eight units in existing residential neighbourhoods. The city's plan calls for half of all new housing to be delivered via infill. Before the 2025 election, a motion to cap mid-blocks at six units narrowly failed in council. New architectural controls have been placed on infill developers, but residents say the measures don't go far enough.

Katrina Owen, a Parkview resident, described the impact in raw terms: "We're losing sleep. We're losing our sense of safety. I'm not going to be able to drive this way anymore. This street is just going to be a construction nightmare. This is all going down: This house, this house and five houses over there. You see a bunch of 'for sale' signs around here. People are freaking out, and there are people moving. I think one of them had been here 30 years. Another one of them's 25. They have no choice. They have to leave."

Cosandria Leyton-High, who moved to Parkview last year into a single-family skinny home, lives across from the infill project under construction on 88 Avenue. She described a domino effect: one neighbour's decision to sell because of infill spurs another to sell, leading yet another to abandon the neighbourhood. "It's an exodus," Leyton-High said. "We see that are being pushed out to make way for all these rental units. People quit, pack up and leave because we've tried every possible way to slow it down or make it logical. It's illogical what's happening."

Leyton-High said many former neighbours are choosing to leave Edmonton entirely for communities outside city limits, concerned about plummeting home values. She also flagged existing infrastructure strain: snow removal problems that will worsen with the population increase, and concerns about parking and waste management.

The lot at 88 Avenue and 147 Street will be redeveloped by Davach Properties. Residents said 50 new units or more could replace the seven houses currently on that site.

As reported in June, Parkview residents have been fighting eightplex builds in court and appeals, and escalated the fight to the Alberta Court of Appeal. Across Edmonton, homeowners have filed restrictive covenants to block multi-unit infill development.

Residents say they will file more applications to the appeal board, increase outcry at city committee meetings, and provide more public speakers at City Hall.