Dear Editor:
Re: Emery redevelopment.
As May 15 looms ever closer on my calendar, I ponder my future living in the District of North Vancouver. Three major things tie me to this community in which I live.
The first and foremost is the shared custody of my 12-year-old son. His mother lives a five minute walk away. He attends school here. He is able to come and go freely between the homes of the two parents he loves, and loves spending time with.
The second is my job. I have already witnessed the loss of the North Vancouver Transit Centre. At 0415 in the morning my commute takes about 12 minutes. Coming home now takes at least an hour to get from where I finish work for the day, back to the Burnaby Transit Centre, and then back over the Iron Workers Memorial Bridge to North Vancouver. Some days take two hours. When I worked from North Vancouver, it took me at least 50 minutes less each day.
The third was my ability to secure a rental in which to live that was affordable on my salary as a single parent. It took five years to rebuild my life as a single person, all the while watching real estate prices climb, and available rentals decline. Five years of working, saving whatever I could, and managing my commitments. At that mark, another five-eight years of saving and I might have been able to put together a modest down payment. But in just those three years, it has become an impossible dream. Suitable rentals when available represent an increase of $600-$900/month. Under the previous government, my wages have been negotiated at a “net-zero” increase, with only a 1-1.5 per cent gain in wages. No one in this community could not have noticed that the cost of living is climbing much faster than that.
“Move somewhere you can afford” say some. But where exactly is this place? And at what cost?? While I could still do my job and live in places like Abbotsford, Mission, or Langley, what to do about my son??? I certainly couldn’t have the same access to him that I do now. Redraw custody, and see him only every other weekend? Maybe??
I have been driving professionally for 28 years now. For the last 13 I have invested in a stable, secure job that would allow me to be there for my son. It allows me to be home every night, and provides him with medical benefits. I have worked my way up from being the last operator of 3,400, to within the top 1,000 in that time. Things are now starting to look decent for my future there.
The next option would be of course to simply quit the job, move even further away, and see my son on school holidays (if I can get that time off starting all over again). Or maybe suck up the huge rental increase, and change my entire lifestyle from “living” on the North Shore, to one of “existing” here.
“Forty-two affordable rentals” are a big part of the sales pitch with this re-development. Looking at the numbers, I doubt that I will qualify for their interpretation of “affordable.” Presently that would be $2,013/month for me including the parking space which I would need to be able to get to work, so that I can get others to their jobs. Add in a contract increase, and I could be looking again for a place to live.
The district has lots of “market” purchase in the building phase right now. Next to nothing for added rental stock. Approving this now and adding another 300+ parking spaces, without seeing the impacts of Lynn Valley’s Bosa development, and Mountain Village’s current hole in the ground turning into a major development seems somewhat short sighted. The OCP calls for 10,000 units to be built by 2030. We are already at over 8,500, and most are not finished yet.
There should be no rush to redevelop this complex until nearby projects reach completion, and the effects are known. Lynn Valley still will have only two ways in and out when they are. Federal and provincial incentives are being announced regularly now. There is supposed to be an update to provincial policy in September. Maybe now would be the time that municipal government started talking to their provincial counterparts, and developers to start creating solutions for people who work for “Metro Vancouver” scale wages. Perhaps this decision should be left to the new council who will begin shaping the future of the District of North Vancouver after the election in November ...
Terry Wagner
North Vancouver
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