Mea culpa! An early reader of this post discovered a vocabulary issue—does not change the concepts, just a bit of the vocabulary. I have made the changes. Thanks, Russil!
Affordability is E-A-S-Y to do: tell your son the government made the problem. And only the government can fix it.
I tried to follow the article and answer the questions as they came up. But half-way through I realized it wasn’t working. So, some of what follows may not make total sense in terms of the article.
But it makes good commons sense.
I think he will get it. I think most folks—even the renters that in reality want to be owners but can’t make the numbers work—will get that.
We are on common ground here, Brian: Affordability is KEY to the future of our city…. Any city. And I’ve worked in some cities that do not have affordability problems. Not yet. But of course, I haven’t worked in our city. Not much—and I think it shows.
I only have one step for affordability. Ready?
Build it.
I know it when I see it. I see it in South False Creek. That was the TEAM party in the 1970s (The Electors Action Movement). Colleen Hardwick said she was starting it up again. I said “Count me in when you do.” (You did too!).
So, TEAM is back.
Mid-Sevemties… co-op housing (South False Creek)… Federal Government… city puts in the land… False Creek South… non-profits have land… money… STOP!
You had me at ‘co-op housing’. I’m friends with folks at Quebec Manor. Co-op. They love it and they can afford it. Heck, they own it! But there are no more ‘Quebec Manors’ being built, are there?
MURBs… I’m not into that. The first strata building is out in Port Moody. We should go see it sometime. VR 1. I own a unit in VR 245. By the time they built my unit, the studs weren’t put up straight. We spent 1.5 million 10 years ago fixing the exterior stucco. It wasn’t a ‘leaky condo’ (they came later). But NE winds pushed water up the walls (wind driven rain) and it found its way into the tiny cracks. The studs rotted. We had to cut stucco to see inside. Anyway, I came up with a way to fix it and we’re doing fine now. VR 1? Designed by Arthur Erickson. Love that guy. We had a great chat one day. Did a four-day placement with Nick Milkovich in his office. Good designer. That was 1980.
Funding vacuum… Skytrian… Towers. These are the places where government got it wrong.
VISION… Oh don’t get me started! And it was the NPA before them. Local government is where the rubber meets the road in Canadian politics. And ever since before 1980 that rubber’s been… riding on Lamborghini rims. Like on ‘Miami Vice’, with all those towers in the opening credits for the 80s TV show.
That’s when The Rule By The 1% began. Back before 1980. And there’s been NO quit since then.
“With dramatic reduction of… “
You know what there has seen a ‘dramatic reduction of’ since 1980? H-O-U-S-E-S.
That’s why houses are priced 7-times over ‘affordability’.
Affordability BTW is still defined as ‘3-years of income for a family or household (I missed that in the article).
So, your son… his yearly income times-3. That’s the purchase price for a home for him. If it is a family income, then the size is 800 sf finished. 800 sf unfinished (BTW its been that way in Vancouver since the 1920s). Then, you mortgage that over 25 years, and if you can’t qualify for a 5% downpayment, CMHC kicks in.
I hope your son is getting all this. That its not ‘flying over his head.’ Because I’m trying to make it a lot ‘simpler’ for him and for everyone else in the neighborhood.
What’s next in the article? “How does it work in practice?” All these government “10-20% below market subsidized by the rest of the units…”
Here is the honest answer: I doesn’t work!
“320 square feet…” That’s down from 425 square feet for a studio in 1976.
That’s what happens when you follow the Hong Kong model. And look where go it Hong Kong— front seat in Communist China.
I think there is a message there we need to hear and think very carefully about.
Answer me a simple question: how much has rent been going up per year, since 1980? I have published the numbers for sale prices for homes & condos… Its not pretty.
It really doesn’t help to hear that the city has rigged the market place for “30 storey buildings”, because I’m not moving into a 30 storey building. And there are hundreds and thousands of Canadians that feel the way I do.
Government has to fix the problem, because government made it.
What’s the fix? Brian, how would you fix it?
“Politicians like to tinker.”
That doesn’t describe TEAM in 1976. And it doesn’t describe TEAM today either if I have any say in the matter…
“Over Major Neighborhood Opposition…”
Really, you mean the neighborhoods are mad as hell and won’t take it anymore?
So what are we going to tell them? Cause what the article is describing is B=R=O=K=E=N.
Brian, do you have a plan? I would love to hear your plan! I’m sure the neighbors would too.
Pretend I’m your son: Dad, how are we going to fix it?
If he were honest he would tell you he doesn’t ‘give a sh*t about the city allowing much greater heights and density, dramatically reduced parking requirements and reduced fees paid to the city for community amenities’.
He just wants affordable housing for Canadians in Canada. I mean, doesn’t everybody?
Mea culpa! An early reader of this post discovered a vocabulary issue—does not change the concepts, just a bit of the vocabulary. I have made the changes. Thanks, Russil!
Affordability
Affordability is E-A-S-Y to do: tell your son the government made the problem. And only the government can fix it.
I tried to follow the article and answer the questions as they came up. But half-way through I realized it wasn’t working. So, some of what follows may not make total sense in terms of the article.
But it makes good commons sense.
I think he will get it. I think most folks—even the renters that in reality want to be owners but can’t make the numbers work—will get that.
We are on common ground here, Brian: Affordability is KEY to the future of our city…. Any city. And I’ve worked in some cities that do not have affordability problems. Not yet. But of course, I haven’t worked in our city. Not much—and I think it shows.
I only have one step for affordability. Ready?
Build it.
I know it when I see it. I see it in South False Creek. That was the TEAM party in the 1970s (The Electors Action Movement). Colleen Hardwick said she was starting it up again. I said “Count me in when you do.” (You did too!).
So, TEAM is back.
Mid-Sevemties… co-op housing (South False Creek)… Federal Government… city puts in the land… False Creek South… non-profits have land… money… STOP!
You had me at ‘co-op housing’. I’m friends with folks at Quebec Manor. Co-op. They love it and they can afford it. Heck, they own it! But there are no more ‘Quebec Manors’ being built, are there?
MURBs… I’m not into that. The first strata building is out in Port Moody. We should go see it sometime. VR 1. I own a unit in VR 245. By the time they built my unit, the studs weren’t put up straight. We spent 1.5 million 10 years ago fixing the exterior stucco. It wasn’t a ‘leaky condo’ (they came later). But NE winds pushed water up the walls (wind driven rain) and it found its way into the tiny cracks. The studs rotted. We had to cut stucco to see inside. Anyway, I came up with a way to fix it and we’re doing fine now. VR 1? Designed by Arthur Erickson. Love that guy. We had a great chat one day. Did a four-day placement with Nick Milkovich in his office. Good designer. That was 1980.
Funding vacuum… Skytrian… Towers. These are the places where government got it wrong.
VISION… Oh don’t get me started! And it was the NPA before them. Local government is where the rubber meets the road in Canadian politics. And ever since before 1980 that rubber’s been… riding on Lamborghini rims. Like on ‘Miami Vice’, with all those towers in the opening credits for the 80s TV show.
That’s when The Rule By The 1% began. Back before 1980. And there’s been NO quit since then.
“With dramatic reduction of… “
You know what there has seen a ‘dramatic reduction of’ since 1980? H-O-U-S-E-S.
That’s why houses are priced 7-times over ‘affordability’.
Affordability BTW is still defined as ‘3-years of income for a family or household (I missed that in the article).
So, your son… his yearly income times-3. That’s the purchase price for a home for him. If it is a family income, then the size is 800 sf finished. 800 sf unfinished (BTW its been that way in Vancouver since the 1920s). Then, you mortgage that over 25 years, and if you can’t qualify for a 5% downpayment, CMHC kicks in.
I hope your son is getting all this. That its not ‘flying over his head.’ Because I’m trying to make it a lot ‘simpler’ for him and for everyone else in the neighborhood.
What’s next in the article? “How does it work in practice?” All these government “10-20% below market subsidized by the rest of the units…”
Here is the honest answer: I doesn’t work!
“320 square feet…” That’s down from 425 square feet for a studio in 1976.
That’s what happens when you follow the Hong Kong model. And look where go it Hong Kong— front seat in Communist China.
I think there is a message there we need to hear and think very carefully about.
Answer me a simple question: how much has rent been going up per year, since 1980? I have published the numbers for sale prices for homes & condos… Its not pretty.
It really doesn’t help to hear that the city has rigged the market place for “30 storey buildings”, because I’m not moving into a 30 storey building. And there are hundreds and thousands of Canadians that feel the way I do.
Government has to fix the problem, because government made it.
What’s the fix? Brian, how would you fix it?
“Politicians like to tinker.”
That doesn’t describe TEAM in 1976. And it doesn’t describe TEAM today either if I have any say in the matter…
“Over Major Neighborhood Opposition…”
Really, you mean the neighborhoods are mad as hell and won’t take it anymore?
So what are we going to tell them? Cause what the article is describing is B=R=O=K=E=N.
Brian, do you have a plan? I would love to hear your plan! I’m sure the neighbors would too.
Pretend I’m your son: Dad, how are we going to fix it?
If he were honest he would tell you he doesn’t ‘give a sh*t about the city allowing much greater heights and density, dramatically reduced parking requirements and reduced fees paid to the city for community amenities’.
He just wants affordable housing for Canadians in Canada. I mean, doesn’t everybody?
Let’s build it!