Parkview Residents Rally Against Wave of In‑fill Housing Projects

On a cool Sunday afternoon, roughly two hundred people packed the intersection of 88 Avenue and 147 Street in Edmonton’s Parkview neighbourhood. It wasn’t a spontaneous meetup; it felt more like a collective sigh, a declaration that the pace of new housing was simply too fast for the community that’s lived there for decades.

Protesters – some from Crestwood, Laurier and West Jasper Place – held up signs, chanted “responsible infill,” and voiced a common fear: the neighbourhood is turning into an exodus zone. The trigger, they point out, is the city’s omnibus zoning bylaw, approved by the previous council, which now permits up to eight units on a single mid‑block lot in established residential areas. The aim was ambitious – half of all new housing to come from infill – but the practical fallout is already visible on the ground.

At the heart of the protest was a four‑dwelling row house at 14712 88 Avenue, currently under construction by Davach Properties, slated to contain three secondary suites. That site is just one of eight similar parcels in the immediate vicinity that have been sold and are slated for redevelopment. Residents estimate that 50 or more new units could soon replace the familiar low‑rise homes.

“We’re losing sleep,” said Katrina Owen, a longtime Parkview resident, her voice trembling a bit as she described traffic snarls and a street that feels like a perpetual construction zone. “It’s not just the noise; it’s the sense that our safety, our routine, is slipping away.”

Across the street, Cosandria Leyton‑High, who moved into a modest single‑family home just last year, echoed the same unease. “It’s an exodus,” she said, watching neighbours pack up and leave for places outside the city limits. She warned that each new infill project triggers a domino effect: one homeowner sells, a developer builds, the next homeowner feels pressured to follow suit.

Beyond the fear of losing homes, Leyton‑High is worried about tangible day‑to‑day issues. Snow removal in Parkview has already been a headache; with more units and more cars, parking becomes a nightmare. Her mother, who uses a wheelchair, needs unobstructed street access, and Leyton‑High fears that the ever‑growing traffic will make that impossible.

The protest also highlighted a glaring safety lapse: when the original house on the construction site was demolished, there were no protective fences, prompting residents to make 311 emergency calls before the area was finally secured.

Further south, in West Jasper Place, residents like Steven Lakey are fighting a similar battle over a proposed four‑to‑five‑storey apartment complex at 9501‑9519 155 St NW. Lakey is frustrated, saying the city’s densification agenda seems to favor downtown and the Blatchford redevelopment, while mature neighbourhoods bear the brunt of new rentals.

“I’m beginning to think the only way this changes is if the council changes,” Lakey told reporters. He argues that the current council’s ideology leans too heavily on high‑density development, ignoring the desire to preserve affordable home ownership and neighbourhood character.

For many, the fight feels uphill. “We used to have a strong advocacy voice,” Lakey said, “now it feels almost futile.” Yet the gathering in Parkview proved that the community isn’t ready to stay silent. Residents plan to flood the appeal board with applications, fill city committee meetings with speakers, and, above all, make the process of “shovel‑in‑the‑ground” as costly and cumbersome as possible for developers.