There’s a distinct sense we’ve spotted the iceberg – observed it is big, dangerous and directly in our path – and neglected to change course.
The state of housing affordability on the North Shore continues to constitute a crisis. And it’s getting worse – 38 per cent worse in North Vancouver District alone.
If you own a North Shore house, chances are it’s worth about 52 per cent more today than in 2014. Do you know of a single legal job that pays 52 per cent more today than in 2014?
It’s easy (though not wrong) to blame our still-premier, who watched the real estate market burn and begrudgingly put down her fiddle long enough to implement the foreign buyers tax.
But what is more alarming is a strain of obliviousness that is slowly sapping the urgency from the word “crisis.”
Our bridges swell with workers who can’t afford to live here. Homeless shelters increasingly turn away families. Renters can’t find much and what they can find often wasn’t worth looking for.
And still, certain councillors leave shoe leather in council chambers with their tireless foot dragging.
West Vancouver recently voted on a Marine Drive development plan – not an actual development – that might bring much needed housing to the district. It barely passed.
We don’t begrudge any councillor for voting against a specific development – we’re well aware of developers who pose as advocates for renters until they set the rent – but we can’t abide councillors who ignore a crisis.
Think of how important your home is to you. Imagine how it would feel to lose it.
That’s what we mean by crisis.
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