These are all over South Calgary, Altadore and Marda Loop (not sure where one ends and the other begins). Design-wise some are awful, like the one here: 5004 21 St SW, Calgary, AB T2T 5B8. Others are better, like the one here: 4929 21a St SW, Calgary, AB T2T 5C2. As infill, four to five properties on a lot where there use to be one house is a big win. As a place to live, maybe better than a condo but look at the back of those places, there is room for maybe a 5'x5' deck, why not push these things up against the sidewalk and give these people some proper outdoor space? The roof top decks do look pretty cool, especially if they're in a place with a view.
I agree with the silly useless front lawn v. smaller back comment. That's a huge downside.
However, I recently looked at a few of this type at show homes, the layout of these
can be really good. Smaller floorplates but usually not at the expense of losing bedrooms - everything is just tighter and way more space efficient. Also as these type of infills are brand new, everything looks more contemporary, even compared to duplexes and row houses from 5 or 10 years ago. Way different lifestyle than an apartment condo too with your own front and back doors, no one above you etc.
A potential downside for some is they aren't particularly cheap. But - and this is super critical - for Marda Loop, Altadore and many portions of the immediate inner city, they are absolutely one of the only close to affordable, new family-sized options given how expensive everything else is. That's what I like about them.
We don't talk about this enough in affordability is how arbitrarily large most infill houses/townhomes are. Most ground oriented, 2 - 5 unit townhome/rowhouse from 10-20 years ago is about +30% bigger in square footage than the new ones even if they have the same amount of bedrooms, closets and bathrooms. Even if the new ones cost more per sqft, they are literally the only thing close to affordable in a land of +2,500 sqft infills.
That's why choices and housing diversity are so important - almost everywhere people are forced to buy or rent more land and house than they need, often just because of sloppy inefficient designs and layouts, while also being density handicapped by arbitrary land setback/subdivision rules. It's okay to want bigger floor plans, but we shouldn't be naïve on how they run completely counter to affordability, particularly in the highest demand areas. For large portions of people, larger units (and higher costs) prevent them from even having the choice to look at many areas.
