If employees can’t find an affordable place to live near their work, they’ll commute. If their commute is hell, they’ll find a new place to work.
“None of these things are an island. They’re all interrelated,” said Patrick Stafford-Smith, CEO of the North Vancouver Chamber, at the annual Mayors’ Luncheon, Wednesday.
The chamber organizes a chat-and-chew with the two mayors every year. This was the first opportunity for members to get some facetime with newly elected mayors Linda Buchanan from the City of North Vancouver and Mike Little from the District of North Vancouver.
On affordability, Little said there isn’t much the district can do about the high demand for homes driving up prices in the district, which has gone from a blue-collar ’burb to a commodity of global desire, thanks to its proximity to nature, mountains and water.
The district is about to review its official community plan, which Little said has left the district too little room to negotiate amenities in exchange for greater density.
“I think we’re going to come back with something a little bit more modest and hopefully that will have a bit of a suppressant effect on the land assembly costs for people that are trying to bring projects forward in the community,” he said. “We then have the ability to go back and say ‘We’ll give you a little bit more but here are our expectations in this process.’”
And he told the many developers in the room, new market condos aren’t going to help if they are selling at $800 per square foot.
“We have a bunch of supply that’s coming on but at the end of the day, the units that are being produced are not simple, basic-needs housing,” he said. “The developers that are not scared of our land assembly costs in North Vancouver are building premium, luxury units. Ten per cent or 20 per cent off new premium luxury is not affordable and never will be affordable.”
Buchanan said her council will likely continue on with its plan for building dense, walkable communities but with a different type of housing in mind. “Really, what we need to be focusing on is purpose-built rental. It’s the most sustainable form of housing in order to get people living in your community,” she said
And Buchanan said she will soon be bringing a motion to council to create a new intergovernmental committee, modelled on the Integrated North Shore Transportation Planning Project but with a focus on affordable housing.
“Bringing partners to the table, all three levels of government but really with a focus on low- to moderate-income earners. Those people who … work here but are challenged to find housing here. Because the market really isn’t working for them,” she said. “So, Mike, this is your invitation.”
On transportation, Little said his top priority is to get transit working more efficiently for the North Shore, including two new B-Line bus routes – one connecting Lynn Valley to downtown via the Lions Gate Bridge and the other linking Metrotown to Capilano University. But, he warned, if Vancouver gets its way and builds a subway all the way to UBC, there will be no money left for other transit projects that would have a greater impact on getting people out of their cars and onto transit.
The chamber, along with many others, has been calling for a fixed-rail link across Burrard Inlet. That won’t be happening anytime soon, Buchanan said, but she added she’s already lobbying for a feasibility study, all the way up to the Prime Minister’s Office.
“Regardless what your feelings in terms of the prime minister is, he is from the North Shore. His family is from the North Shore. He knows the North Shore well. Talking to him about our challenges with transportation, I have specifically asked for money from the federal and provincial governments to do a feasibility study to be looking at a fixed link and an extension of the Canada Line, at some point, over to the North Shore,” she said.
