Denser is better, say Toronto’s highly educated, high-earning young professionals, when it comes to housing.

Many would elbow their way into some of the region’s established, amenity-rich neighbourhoods if there were more affordable housing options, according to a survey of 18- to 39-year-olds for the Toronto Region Board of Trade.

Eighty-seven per cent of respondents to the business group’s study say that all areas of the city need to make room for denser housing such as bigger condos, townhouses, laneway homes and granny suites.

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Growth isn’t just necessary, it’s exciting, says Sarah Madden, 33, who has an MBA and works as a marketing manager at an executive recruitment firm.

“I like to see the growth. I like to see the change. To me that’s a good thing,” she said.

When it comes to development, she describes herself as more YIMBY (Yes In My Back Yard) than NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard).

“What are we going to do — just continue to sprawl? Skyscrapers don’t bother me,” said Madden, who rents a two-bedroom near Yonge and College Sts.

Her place neighbours the Aura tower. With about 80 storeys, the Aura is massive, said Madden.

“I don’t think everything should be like that. But I’m definitely for mixed use,” she said. “You have to create different strokes for different folks.”

Madden uses the changing landscape around the old Honest Ed’s as an example.

“I know there’s an emotional attachment to it, but from an architectural perspective — how the space could be used at that corner — I think there’s a lot more value that you can extract out of it than having a department store,” said Madden.

Young professionals are the best lever for a civic discussion about the perils of NIMBY-ism, said Jan De Silva, CEO of the Board of Trade.

In some cases, it’s their parents who oppose densification. They need to connect the difficulty of their children in getting established to the proposed changes to their own neighbourhoods.

Young professionals want to see bigger condos, secondary suites, laneway homes and denser housing formats throughout the city, not just in the downtown, said De Silva.

Among the 803 survey respondents, 74 per cent said they support measures to increase residential density. Eighty-four per cent supported laneway homes and 60 per cent said they would be interested in living in that kind of housing themselves.

Sixty-two per cent said there are too many one-bedroom condos and 79 per cent say the region has too few three-bedroom units.

“Even the development community is recognizing we’ve had an over-build of one-bedrooms and one-bedroom-plus-dens,” said De Silva.

“Over time, they have seen their time frame from start to exit of a project move from four years to eight years. Their ability to move is impeded by the way our planning processes are unfolding.

“Their financing costs have doubled if their development time has doubled and that all gets transferred to the purchaser which is also creating pressure on some of the housing prices we’re seeing,” she said.

Respondents overwhelmingly said high housing prices were inhibiting their ability to save for retirement, and 65 per cent said rent and mortgage payments were making it tough to pay down debt.

Madden doesn’t doubt she and her husband would qualify for a “crazy” mortgage. Still, they are hesitant.

“I’m 33. I’m going to buy a $1-million house? It’s frightening,” she said.

The fright factor increases, given that most city houses are older homes that need updating and repairs.

Madden, who loves the shops, restaurants and a car-free lifestyle has looked at advertisements for three-bedroom condos downtown.

“They have three-bedrooms in 800 sq. ft. They’re literally putting lipstick on a pig. That’s not a realistic space,” she said.

Meantime, she considers the $2,425 a month rent for their condo, including a storage locker and parking spot that they rent out, pretty reasonable.

“I don’t want to live in a bedroom community. I want to live, work and play in the same spot,” she said.

The Environics survey was distributed in the summer to the board’s 1,100 young professionals, CivicAction’s Emerging Leaders’ Network, the Toronto Youth Cabinet and the Toronto Public Library’s New Collection.

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Who are the young professionals surveyed?

57% females

90% work full-time

44% hold graduate degrees

31% have a household income of $60,000 to $100,000

40% have a household income of at least $100,000, including 21% who have incomes over $150,000

35% are aged 30 to 34

32% are between 25 and 29

25% are 35 to 39 and 8% are 18 to 24

64% are part of a 1- or 2-person household

36% have 3 or more people in the household

51% live in the City of Toronto; the remainder live in 905-area communities, including Hamilton

83% have no children at home

32% plan to have children in the next 2 to 3 years

43% expect to have children eventually

Source: Environics for the Toronto Region Board of Trade

Coming up

Nov. 15 Highway to Home: Where they live is all about the commute, say millennials