The concern about the future of young families in North Van didn’t just start when the average price of a detached home hit $1 million-plus.
Back in 1999, when the average home price in Greater Vancouver was $357,560, there was already a cavalcade of young families crossing the bridges in pursuit of more-affordable real estate to raise their kids.
Since then, the dream of raising a family here has turned into a nightmare.
Skyrocketing home prices have made the entire Lower Mainland unaffordable for most and in North and West Vancouver homes are among the most expensive. For young people who grew up here, that has made home buying a home here virtually impossible without financial support. Those prices have also made it increasingly difficult for those who work here — from store clerks to firefighters, police officers, nurses and municipal employees – to live here.
As the dream of owning a single-family home is being recalibrated to owning or renting a condo or townhouse and simply being able to remain in your home community, more housing options are desperately needed.
That will require more housing stock, which is currently in short supply in North Van. So how do you add more stock for those who want to remain here?
The District of North Vancouver has identified four town centre and villages that aim to do that. One of the key goals of these compact new communities is to “accommodate a diverse mix of housing.”
That’s good news for those who live or grew up locally and want to stay here to raise a family or for seniors who want to downsize from a single family home and remain close to family and friends.
One of the centres is planned for Maplewood and the DNV envisions that “the village will include a variety of housing for all ages, incomes, and family circumstances, centred on a newly invigorated, walkable Maplewood Village Centre.”
The DNV recently completed a community and stakeholder engagement process and a summary of phase one of the public input is available on the district website.
(To find out more about the next steps, read DNV Mayor Richard Walton’s column on page 3.)
For all of those who are excited by the prospect of a new village centre, businesses, transportation routes and more housing stock, there will likely be some opposition to any increased density.
The redevelopment of the Lynn Valley town centre to include towers between four and 12 storeys to add 360 new residential units was hotly contested by some residents.
During the debate in 2014, Mayor Walton referenced the shuttering of North Van schools and the lost generation of families and the need to provide more housing options.“This means more density,” he told council.
While it is difficult for many to accept increased density in their neighbourhoods the four new neighbourhood centres have been selected for strategic reason, including proximity to public transit, amenities, jobs, shopping and businesses. The Maplewood site makes sense.
The new housing types won’t be affordable to all but will offer lower prices for those who can’t afford a single family home and provide options for downsizing seniors and others to remain in their home community. Communities need a spectrum of citizens, young families, seniors and everyone in between in order remain truly vibrant.
There’s not a single answer to the dearth of affordable and diverse housing types in North Vancouver but every extra unit will help.
