Articles and explainers on Bucky's core subjects and cities, gathered in one place.
AI tools now read zoning by-laws, screen sites and draft reports. Some of that works, and some of it is still a guess dressed up as an answer. These articles cover what works in practice, how to check an AI answer against its source and where the industry is heading.
6 articles and explainers
When a project needs a small exception to the zoning by-law, such as a slightly smaller setback, a little more floor area or a lower parking count, an Ontario municipality decides it at its Committee of Adjustment. The committee hears minor variances and consents to sever land. These explainers cover what the committee can grant, the four tests a minor variance must pass and how a variance differs from a rezoning.
3 articles and explainers
A feasibility study answers one question before money is committed: can this site carry the project, under the rules, at a price that works? It combines zoning, the buildable envelope, costs and residual land value. Start with the explainer, then use the templates and step-by-step guides to run one on a real site.
5 articles and explainers
Above the zoning by-law sit the plans that decide where a city grows: masterplans for large sites and neighbourhood plans for existing areas. They set the height, density and land uses that a later rezoning has to follow. These pieces explain the plan types and what they mean for a site inside one.
3 articles and explainers
Montréal zoning is set borough by borough, and heritage sites and old industrial buildings shape what can happen on many lots. Site histories, zoning explainers and analysis of Montréal properties.
5 articles and explainers
Building in Toronto means the city-wide zoning by-law 569-2013, the Committee of Adjustment and the Ontario policy that sits above both. Garden suites, multiplexes and development charges have all changed in the last few years. Everything Bucky has published on Toronto and the Ontario rules that shape it.
4 articles and explainers
Vancouver has moved fast on multiplexes, secondary suites and village-scale density, and the federal and provincial governments are funding conversions of empty units. Guides, design ideas and policy analysis for building in Vancouver.
4 articles and explainers
