BC Lags Behind Other Provinces in Life Satisfaction

[nik-]

Originally Posted by Galakanokis

The kid paying $2200, it was all he could find. He figures he applied to over 50 places with two call backs. It's an older one bedroom off of commercial and Venables. Don't know the exact location but he needed transit or close to work so he looked in that area. He had a 6 month rental for a bachelor pad in the basement of a house off of first and Renfrew when he first moved here in March. That cost him $1400. It's no just the cost is the availability.

The van is included. But there are stories of people paying $1K to pitch a tent in the yard. Or the guy that put a loft bed and a toilet in his shed and charged $1200 for it. A one bedroom in Yaletown got divided up in to 5 sleep spaces with office dividers and charged $500 a piece. Those were from a year or two ago.

I agree it's nuts and I do wonder why people do it. Perhaps they think it is temporary until they can find something else? I thought myb rental was going to be temporary but housing just kept going up and up. The guy at work absolutely feels trapped. Came out from New Brunswick and wants to work in film...

This is straight up Hong Kong ####. Soon it will be a room full of cages to sleep in.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by nik-

This is straight up Hong Kong ####. Soon it will be a room full of cages to sleep in.

The Libertarian Dream!

Great name for a Hotel!

[SebC]

Originally Posted by Mr.Coffee

Is it your position that people in Vancouver are completely trapped and there are no solutions to their living conditions that they can take on their own? That they literally can’t leave or something?

Canadians are amazing at making up excuses for why we can’t do things. And it’s easy to do.

Look, I get that people should worry about the things they can control and not the things they can't.

But you know what else we could do? Actually build housing in the desirable parts of the country instead of saying that the undesirable ones are good enough. That's how you create the best quality of life for the most the Canadians.

So yeah, from an individual perspective, people can move to more affordable areas. But as a society, if that's our solution, it's suboptimal.

[Mr.Coffee]

Originally Posted by SebC

Look, I get that people should worry about the things they can control and not the things they can't.

But you no what else we could do? Actually build housing in the desirable parts of the country instead of saying that the undesirable ones are good enough. That's how you create the best quality of life for the most the Canadians.

So yeah, from an individual perspective, people can move to more affordable areas. But as a society, if that's our solution, it's suboptimal.

I agree with this, but my understanding is that there is no more land to just build out new housing. Is that not correct? That we need massive overhaul in Vancouver of zoning changes for more density residential, etc. correct?

[SebC]

Originally Posted by Mr.Coffee

I agree with this, but my understanding is that there is no more land to just build out new housing. Is that not correct? That we need massive overhaul in Vancouver of zoning changes for more density residential, etc. correct?

There are a few minor exceptions, but generally speaking: yes, that's correct. Broad-scale upzoning is necessary.

[afc wimbledon]

There is plenty of land in the lower mainland, what there isnt is any bleeding trains, if Vancouver was in any European city there would be a 24 hour train service up to Hope, on both the north and south side of the Fraser and out to Squamish, in most countries Kamloops and Kelowna would be commuter suburbs for Vancouver

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by afc wimbledon

There is plenty of land in the lower mainland, what there isnt is any bleeding trains, if Vancouver was in any European city there would be a 24 hour train service up to Hope, on both the north and south side of the Fraser and out to Squamish, in most countries Kamloops and Kelowna would be commuter suburbs for Vancouver

Lets keep reality in perspective here. That's like saying Liverpool is a commuter suburb of London. And there is a lot of land in the lower mainland, but as we saw last year, it is susceptible to flooding, and is very productive farmland.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by afc wimbledon

There is plenty of land in the lower mainland, what there isnt is any bleeding trains, if Vancouver was in any European city there would be a 24 hour train service up to Hope, on both the north and south side of the Fraser and out to Squamish, in most countries Kamloops and Kelowna would be commuter suburbs for Vancouver

The just need to develop all that farm land in Richmond and that would really help to address the housing shortage in Vancouver.

[Galakanokis]

I don't want more people I want less! An hour to drive 12kms at 3pm. Piss off the lot of you with your density talk. I figured at $2.39 a litre less people would be driving. Nope. I blame Fuzz.

Transit sucks. I can drive to work by the time it takes me just to get to the train. Bus is even slower. There are just no good feeders in and out of communities around here.

[Fuzz]

Hey, I've been advocating for fewer people for decades!

[JohnnyB]

Originally Posted by nik-

This is straight up Hong Kong ####. Soon it will be a room full of cages to sleep in.

It actually does sound like HK, but without the benefits of opportunity to be found in a world financial and business center with 8 million people. Really sad to read that account of what people are going through just to have a place to live here. Contextual factors like that are why it shouldn't be taken for granted that people who end up homeless in Vancouver were bound to be homeless anyways even if they hadn't come here.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

The just need to develop all that farm land in Richmond and that would really help to address the housing shortage in Vancouver.

This is a major issue. It's not just Richmond. Surrey has a huge amount of land reserved for the "ALR" and even Vancouver proper has some. The land is supposedly too good of farm land to ever sacrifice for living, but the vast majority is not even being used for farming.

It's not just Vancouver that has this issue either. Most cities in Canada are surrounded by farm land, that supposedly cannot be rezoned for living. Canada having a land shortage of any kind is absurd.

[JohnnyB]

Originally Posted by blankall

This is a major issue. It's not just Richmond. Surrey has a huge amount of land reserved for the "ALR" and even Vancouver proper has some. The land is supposedly too good of farm land to ever sacrifice for living, but the vast majority is not even being used for farming.

It's not just Vancouver that has this issue either. Most cities in Canada are surrounded by farm land, that supposedly cannot be rezoned for living. Canada having a land shortage of any kind is absurd.

Some of the families down there with residences taking up that land aren't selling up for cash to developers anyways. There are some who live there specifically because it is where you can have expansive estates with acres of privacy around your property that you just can't get in West Van or Shaughnessy.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by JohnnyB

Some of the families down there with residences taking up that land aren't selling up for cash to developers anyways. There are some who live there specifically because it is where you can have expansive estates with acres of privacy around your property that you just can't get in West Van or Shaughnessy.

They are living on land that has been reserved for the ALR, and is supposed to be used for agriculture. IMO, if they aren't actually using the land for agriculture (IE they are scamming the system), they do not deserve the same land rights as others. I would not be opposed to forced sales at below market rates.

Having someone get onto the ALR by skirting the rules and then having the ability to turn around and sell at absurd market rates is really distasteful. Having someone hold out on a sale is even worse.

I honestly do not care what some family living in a massive estate, on land that is supposed to be used specifically for farming, thinks. We are in the middle of a housing crisis. Accommodating people like this is absurd.

[peter12]

Around 70% of Vancouver's land is reserved exclusively for single family homes. There's plenty of land. We just aren't using it very well.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by peter12

Around 70% of Vancouver's land is reserved exclusively for single family homes. There's plenty of land. We just aren't using it very well.

Agreed. My bet is that most people in Vancouver would be very happy with a 2-3 bedroom townhouse with some kind of communal outdoor space.

To the city's credit some change is happening (finally). The new proposed zoning

https://thetyee.ca/News/2022/04/05/V...New-City-Plan/



Now the question is just getting the baby boomer NIMBY's out of the way. Heaven forbid that actual families interrupt their daily stroll through their traffic quieted street of now empty giant detached homes.

[peter12]

I would be so happy with a Parisian-style 1200 square foot apartment with close access to parks and services. My god. I never want to ever mow a lawn.

[JohnnyB]

Originally Posted by blankall

They are living on land that has been reserved for the ALR, and is supposed to be used for agriculture. IMO, if they aren't actually using the land for agriculture (IE they are scamming the system), they do not deserve the same land rights as others. I would not be opposed to forced sales at below market rates.

Having someone get onto the ALR by skirting the rules and then having the ability to turn around and sell at absurd market rates is really distasteful. Having someone hold out on a sale is even worse.

I honestly do not care what some family living in a massive estate, on land that is supposed to be used specifically for farming, thinks. We are in the middle of a housing crisis. Accommodating people like this is absurd.

I'm not sure what the provisions are for this kind of stuff under BC's law for expropriation considering it wouldn't be for development of something public like a road or a park, but I imagine it wouldn't be all that easy to do.

I do agree that it's desirable for the government to have the authority to expropriate land with fair compensation when it's in the interest of a greater public good. I also remember being roasted on CP for defending this kind of activity in China years ago.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by peter12

I would be so happy with a Parisian-style 1200 square foot apartment with close access to parks and services. My god. I never want to ever mow a lawn.

I've always wanted a 1600sqft or so 3 or 4 storey brownstone, row home, with a nice central courtyard and underground parking.

[peter12]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

I've always wanted a 1600sqft or so 3 or 4 storey brownstone, row home, with a nice central courtyard and underground parking.

In a proper city, you wouldn't need the parking.