City approves transit-first housing plan for the hillside districts
After a marathon session that ran past midnight, the council voted 8–3 to adopt the transit-first housing framework, clearing the way for mid-rise development along the two hillside corridors where streetcar service returns next spring.
"We stopped asking where the parking goes and started asking where the people go," said councilmember Rosa Delgado, who authored the compromise amendment that carried the swing votes. Developers holding permits along the corridors said groundbreaking could begin within the year.
Opponents warned of construction fatigue in neighbourhoods still recovering from the harbour works, but the framework's phased schedule — three blocks at a time, transit first — won over two councillors who had opposed earlier drafts. A full implementation report is due in October.
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