BC Lags Behind Other Provinces in Life Satisfaction

[flames_fan_down_under]

I don't even really understand that tweet. It's saying that because owning a home is insanely expensive we should also have an abundance of affordable food available?

[blankall]

Originally Posted by flames_fan_down_under

I don't even really understand that tweet. It's saying that because owning a home is insanely expensive we should also have an abundance of affordable food available?

In Vancouver there's this mantra that the high cost of living/real estate is due to what a world class city Vancouver is. As a result there's no way to make it actually affordable. That line of thinking also states methods like re-zoning, increased transit infrastructure, etc are a waste of time and only disrupt the good aspects of the city. It's basically the NIMBY mantra.

The tweet is pointing out the falsehoods with that, and that Vancouver is actually just filling with people who can't afford to survive there.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by blankall

In Vancouver there's this mantra that the high cost of living/real estate is due to what a world class city Vancouver is. As a result there's no way to make it actually affordable. That line of thinking also states methods like re-zoning, increased transit infrastructure, etc are a waste of time and only disrupt the good aspects of the city. It's basically the NIMBY mantra.

The tweet is pointing out the falsehoods with that, and that Vancouver is actually just filling with people who can't afford to survive there.

They could always move to Leduc and hit up the local Joeys.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by peter12

Mortimer is a well-known local twit.

Guess he has something in common with Yoho….

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by blankall

In Vancouver there's this mantra that the high cost of living/real estate is due to what a world class city Vancouver is. As a result there's no way to make it actually affordable. That line of thinking also states methods like re-zoning, increased transit infrastructure, etc are a waste of time and only disrupt the good aspects of the city. It's basically the NIMBY mantra.

The tweet is pointing out the falsehoods with that, and that Vancouver is actually just filling with people who can't afford to survive there.

I mean, Vancouver is nice in a lot of ways and has redeeming qualities. There is a reason why so many people move to the area. It definitely has warts though that are starting to make the redeeming qualities not worth it for a lot of people.

The problem in Vancouver is just a magnified problem with North America in general. Houses are seen as commodities to gain wealth, and house ownership is even sometimes like a business for people. This isn't the case everywhere in the world.

Talking about world class cities, I posted a couple of videos somewhere in this thread about Vienna (sorry for being a broken record, I am just really onboard with how they do it there). They have taken the position that housing isn't a commodity for people to profit from, but they are homes and it is a basic right to have an affordable home. Zoning and development, and strict market control tools are applied to ensure the residents can rent and purchase affordable homes. Developers can't just go and build luxury condos all over the place and then sell them to investors, and people can't just buy up multiple properties to rent them out to other people. There is a system set up that you can basically rent to own your home and a 30% capital gains tax on homes to deter people from buying and flipping. Something like 70% of the population qualify for the housing programs and the system is actually profitable for the city overall.

Spoiler tags just because the videos were already posted and I don't want to clog up the page.

Spoiler!

There is no reason why North American cities can't do this, other than being a really greedy society, which Vancouver is probably one of the worst examples of. People treat buying a home here like a money making scheme.

[blankall]

And it's not just housing that makes cities like Vienna great. It's character, small business, unique restaurants, walkability, culture, etc.

Something that many North American cities are beginning to lack. In Vancouver, for example, many of the unique businesses, bars, restaurants, etc are shutting down and being replaced by chains. The downtown is becoming some kind of showcase space for luxury brands.

[JohnnyB]

Being around much more vibrant culture is probably the single thing I miss most since moving back here.

[afc wimbledon]

the problem for the last 10 years has mostly been low interest rates, if you take away that then most of the worlds worst real estate markets, Vancouver To, Melbourne, London etc are a third to half cheaper.

All of these cities will always be the most expensive places to live in their respective countries but its the free money that basically only existing home owners and the wealthy can access that has been the problem. A few years of 6 to 8% will cure most of it

[SebC]

Originally Posted by afc wimbledon

the problem for the last 10 years has mostly been low interest rates, if you take away that then most of the worlds worst real estate markets, Vancouver To, Melbourne, London etc are a third to half cheaper.

All of these cities will always be the most expensive places to live in their respective countries but its the free money that basically only existing home owners and the wealthy can access that has been the problem. A few years of 6 to 8% will cure most of it

That will drive down sticker prices but if mortgages stay the same or go up (the ultra rich can pay cash!) it won't improve affordability.

The reason Vancouver real estate is so expensive is the same reason diamonds are - it's something already desirable being pushed into the stratosphere by a supply-restricting cartel.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by afc wimbledon

the problem for the last 10 years has mostly been low interest rates, if you take away that then most of the worlds worst real estate markets, Vancouver To, Melbourne, London etc are a third to half cheaper.

All of these cities will always be the most expensive places to live in their respective countries but its the free money that basically only existing home owners and the wealthy can access that has been the problem. A few years of 6 to 8% will cure most of it

If Canada continues to bring in 450k+ new people per year without any plans on how to build more housing, I don't see things letting up here. The millennials are also the largest generation of people ever.

Canada also has a skilled labor shortage, so it's not exactly cheap to build a new housing unit either, assuming Canada eventually does rezone more land for housing.

We could limit immigration to just people with the skills we need to build houses. However, that's difficult to do, as Canada is now quickly developing skilled labor shortages in just about every other sector of the economy too. This is baffling as about 75% of Canadians under 35 have a post secondary qualification... Just not in any field the economy actually needs. As cities get more expensive to live in, various sectors of skilled labor are also likely going to be less willing to live there.

What we're dealing with now if the fallout of about forty years of no direction. Canada has put almost no effort into various key infrastructure issues. We have a heavily subsidized education system, that lets people study in any field without any consideration of what the economy actually needs. We also have lots of land, but somehow one of the greatest housing shortages in the world. It's almost impressive that things are this bad.

[PeteMoss]

Originally Posted by SebC

That will drive down sticker prices but if mortgages stay the same or go up (the ultra rich can pay cash!) it won't improve affordability.

The reason Vancouver real estate is so expensive is the same reason diamonds are - it's something already desirable being pushed into the stratosphere by a supply-restricting cartel.

This exactly. The prices of houses go down.. but in terms of cash outlay - the 8% price decrease is just taken up by interest payments. The benefit is to people who bought/owned houses when interest rates were low - no benefit to people trying to enter the market despite the prices being lower.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by blankall

If Canada continues to bring in 450k+ new people per year without any plans on how to build more housing.

Awesome news for the Uber industry though.

[peter12]

The problem is we don't build anywhere near enough to what we did in the past. Most of Canada is living off the building boom of the 1970s.

[Sliver]

Is it racist to not want to try to learn a new language to read road and building names? I think using indigenous names for public roads and buildings is a bit goofy. Like, I kind of want to be able to say and spell them if needed.

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Is it racist to not want to try to learn a new language to read road and building names? I think using indigenous names for public roads and buildings is a bit goofy. Like, I kind of want to be able to say and spell them if needed.

It's already enough of a challenge to get people to communicate effectively these days with a singular shared language. (Yes, Canada has two official languages, but most regions tend to be overwhelmingly on Team English or Team Français.)

[flames_fan_down_under]

I don’t think it’s racist, but it takes a pretty minimal amount of work to learn the names of the very few locations that have been given names in indigenous languages. You don’t have to master an entire new language to speak the various words that will be scattered around.

[Wormius]

There was some dude on here freaking out about Turkey changing it’s name to Turkiye. People really hate change.

[peter12]

There are tons of Indigenous place names in Canada and the United States - we just spell them phonetically so people can properly pronounce them.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by peter12

There are tons of Indigenous place names in Canada and the United States - we just spell them phonetically so people can properly pronounce them.

That 100% works for me. This other way is - honestly - super dumb.

[kermitology]

Originally Posted by dammage79

The most egregious group of food sellers for Gouging as far as I can tell, Loblaws. Followed closely by independent grocers like one here in Victoria called country grocer.

I find Thriftys/Sobeys the most closer to normal inflationary prices than anyone else. Save On has been gouging for decades, never do I ever go there.

It's pure Larceny what they're charging for things.

I went to the Root Cellar last week and found that their prices were cheaper than Thrifty's. Somewhat surprising.