3 ms·

When I was a poor student in Toronto there were lots of rooming houses and cheap hotels; those have all been fire coded, by-lawed and gentrified. Even a baseme

When I was a poor student in Toronto there were lots of rooming houses and cheap hotels; those have all been fire coded, by-lawed and gentrified. Even a basement, single bedroom apartment is pretty much out of reach of somebody making minimum wage, let alone somebody scrapping by working odd jobs and odd hours. It's not just the size of cities, as a culture we are deliberately exacerbating the impact of wealth disparity.

dghlsakjg 5y ago
Canada is especially pernicious. Right now I live in a sort of nothing town on Vancouver Island 3 hours from Victoria or Vancouver and rent is STILL unaffordable if you can even find a place. As bad as it is in the states, I feel like it’s even worse up here. The upside is that after having lived in both places, I’d still rather hit a rough patch in Canada. The healthcare, policing, and social services are all way more friendly in Canada.
- waterside81 5y ago
  Hey you got Tacofino so there’s that. No but seriously it’s nuts how expensive the island is and I’m from Toronto
  - dghlsakjg 5y ago
    I’m in Comox! I don’t even get Tacofino. The Canadian government’s, at all levels, unwillingness to do anything but talk about housing without action blows my mind. It’s like they never noticed what happened in the US.
    - 271828182846 5y ago
      Why would you call it a nothing town? Seems like a really nice place. I envy you for all the nature and the sea.
      - dghlsakjg 5y ago
        Its a great town for livability! I called it a nothing town in reference to real estate. We are hours from major economic areas, have no industry to speak of, aren't constrained in land area, don't have anything unique, etc... Nevertheless a "cheap" 3 bedroom house is $650k.
BurningFrog 5y ago
It's a fascinating mind trick: 1. Poor people are living in crappy rooms and hotels. 2. We must do something, so we ban those forms of housing. 3. Now poor people are sleeping in the street. We solved the problem! Extra credit question: Which problem was actually solved?

dghlsakjg 5y ago

Canada is especially pernicious. Right now I live in a sort of nothing town on Vancouver Island 3 hours from Victoria or Vancouver and rent is STILL unaffordable if you can even find a place. As bad as it is in the states, I feel like it’s even worse up here. The upside is that after having lived in both places, I’d still rather hit a rough patch in Canada. The healthcare, policing, and social services are all way more friendly in Canada.

waterside81 5y ago
Hey you got Tacofino so there’s that. No but seriously it’s nuts how expensive the island is and I’m from Toronto
- dghlsakjg 5y ago
  I’m in Comox! I don’t even get Tacofino. The Canadian government’s, at all levels, unwillingness to do anything but talk about housing without action blows my mind. It’s like they never noticed what happened in the US.
  - 271828182846 5y ago
    Why would you call it a nothing town? Seems like a really nice place. I envy you for all the nature and the sea.
    - dghlsakjg 5y ago
      Its a great town for livability! I called it a nothing town in reference to real estate. We are hours from major economic areas, have no industry to speak of, aren't constrained in land area, don't have anything unique, etc... Nevertheless a "cheap" 3 bedroom house is $650k.

BurningFrog 5y ago

It's a fascinating mind trick: 1. Poor people are living in crappy rooms and hotels. 2. We must do something, so we ban those forms of housing. 3. Now poor people are sleeping in the street. We solved the problem! Extra credit question: Which problem was actually solved?