The labour shortage wasn’t created on the North Shore, but this may be where it hits the hardest.
TransLink is currently gathering data that should help illuminate our bi-daily bottlenecks once and for all. In the meantime, we propose an experiment: examine the traffic in Lower Lonsdale and on the Cut at about 3 p.m. on a weekday.
There are plenty of people in Lower Lonsdale but not many cars. The Cut, on the other hand, is a few balloons from looking like a used-car lot most afternoons.
We submit that the drivers who clog the Cut and the transit users we see packed into buses like strands of DNA would really like to live here.
Why wouldn’t they? It’s a beautiful place populated by welcoming people.
The only reason someone would subject themselves to daily gridlock is because financially speaking, it’s their only option.
The current labour shortage may be a product of overarching demographic shifts and poor government policy.
But scant vacancy rates, punishing rents and a millionaires-only club for homeowners have made the North Shore the skinniest canary in the economic coal mine.
For decades the North Shore built single family houses at the expense of other types of housing. In terms of adding diversity to our community, there is nothing worse.
The concept of diversity seems ephemeral, but it is crucial to the well-being of our communities. Variety is not only the spice of life, it’s essential to our economic future.
We have enough managers on the North Shore. We need a few people willing to be managed.
Variety may be the spice of life. But for a community, diversity is life.
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