Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill Bumface
I think these two posts hit the root of a problem that is hurting a lot more of the country than just residents of Canmore.
Places like Kelowna/Vernon/Fernie and many more all have similar issues. We have a bunch of people hoarding interior space and land that is extremely under-utilized. Not only does this cause housing problems, it's got an enormous energy and infrastructure footprint.
Building hotels and rental condos in Canmore isn't really an issue, and actually is a great way to increase access to the mountains, which is a good thing - as Fuzz agreed to.
There must be some really clever taxation scheme out there that would make it more expensive to sit on empty space. If owners of vacation places could face massive taxes to leave them empty, or a decent windfall renting them out, maybe we see more people take on the hassle of renting out their empty space in tourist areas.
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A solution would be to create incentives for people not loosing the space to sell. Decrease income taxes and increase property taxes. It's not an entirely pretty process, as many of the boomers sitting on the house are now elderly people who've lived in a house for decades, and you're forcing them out. Quite frankly, I'm not sure what the solution is. Canada seems to be allergic to creating proper development plans anywhere, they have absurd immigration numbers, and a huge portion of the housing stock occupied by older people who are just leaving rooms vacant.