4 ms·

A nearby municipality's mayor is requesting a 6 month pause on development. We're so out of sync and lacking a sense of urgency on this matter, I fully expect

A nearby municipality's mayor is requesting a 6 month pause on development. We're so out of sync and lacking a sense of urgency on this matter, I fully expect the province of BC to make sweeping changes to regulation that will be a serious shock to everyone. If we don't keep up with demand and dramatically change our perspective and priorities, the social impacts will be dire. I think we've been too comfortable for too long to see it, but... We're on the precipice of a real crisis. The societal impacts of not having housing while people are losing social mobility are very, very severe and likely unprecedented in the lifetimes of most British Columbians. I really hope we can get it together. The mayor asking for a pause on development is concerned (rightfully) about ensuring infrastructure meets housing demands. While I fully appreciate the need for that to happen, it seems to me that 1) we should have been addressing that a decade ago, and 2) his job is to address that now in a manner that doesn't neglect to address the more pressing issue that we don't have enough housing. We need to clean up as we go; we don't have the luxury of planning. We lost that convenience a long, long time ago, and we have to do this "scared" as they say. I don't mean to sound like a doomer here, but I have the distinct sense that many Canadians (likely especially true among those who aren't facing lack of food, housing, or income) are dangerously unaware of the hill we're currently sliding down. We're still near the top, but there's a long way to slide down and it's very slippery. We don't have our hiking boots on, and it's going to be a struggle to scramble back up. In order to get there, we're going to need to just do something. No 6 month pauses. No perfect community planning. Pardon my Canadian here, but we really fucked the dog on this one.

earleybird 3y ago
In IT, when ever I hear the phrase "we don't have the luxury of planning" I know with a high probability that the project will fail.
soperj 3y ago
> A nearby municipality's mayor is requesting a 6 month pause on development. View Royal mayor was going to do that regardless, if you look at his track record this is what he stands for. Provincial Govt will hopefully make an example out of them. They already had an updated community plan which he purposely kiboshed so that he could institute this pause.
- steve_adams_86 3y ago
  Yes, this is why I have that feeling that we're so out of sync and people are so blind to the consequences. This is a person who we can give the benefit of the doubt that they want to do the right thing for their community. To them, community planning and maintaining a certain status quo is genuinely important and meaningful, and no doubt, their community is asking for it to varying degrees. But we don't have that kind of agency. We don't have the wealth in communities like View Royal to insulate ourselves from the consequences of inaction. We're fooling ourselves, but I suspect it's quite easy to do so because we've never known any different. Yet we no longer have the boom of various resource extraction as we had when we initially scaled out these communities. We no longer have the space and freedom to sprawl so effortlessly. We have inherited something from a time that is economically, politically, and geographically unrecognizable. It's a monolith of ideals we can't sustain. I suppose a major issue is the complexity involved and frankly, our broader inability (including my own, to be clear) to fully understand where we're coming from and where we're going. Frankly though I would say we're coming from an era of opportunity and entering one of relative scarcity with necessitated resourcefulness that we evidently don't yet possess. And yes, I'm extremely hopeful that the Province will actually execute on making an example of them. It's yet to be seen that they're aware and ready to take action in a manner that will actually foment meaningful results. The fact that they imposed the timeline for action in the first place gives me some hope, though.
  - soperj 3y ago
    I think the main issue is that they haven't amalgamated these small communities. View Royal is home to the biggest hospital on the island and less than 12,000 people. There's no reason for Greater Victoria, a population center of 400,000 people to be broken into 12 municipalities.
icepat 3y ago
Not only housing, but also health care. The system is far overcapacity in most urban areas. There's just not enough doctors, care homes, or hospital beds for the entire country. It was a major reason for me expatriating. The housing issue, and stagflation was also a major contributor, but I had to seriously ask myself if I felt safe getting old in Canada. And the answer was a resounding no.
- TMWNN 3y ago
  >Not only housing, but also health care. The system is far overcapacity in most urban areas. There's just not enough doctors, care homes, or hospital beds for the entire country. Context for others: An amazingly high portion of Canadians don't have a family doctor <https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/despite-more-doctors-many-canadians-don-t-have-a-family-physician-report-1.4611149 https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/despite-more-doctors-many-cana...>. In Atlantic Canada (the four easternmost provinces) it is impossible, repeat impossible, to get a family doctor if you don't have one <https://web.archive.org/web/20190226051406/https://www.thetelegram.com/in-depth/doctor-shortage/what-we-learned-and-what-you-said-about-doctor-shortage-in-atlantic-canada-286436/ https://web.archive.org/web/20190226051406/https://www.thete...>. It's one thing to have shortages in rural areas—that happens in the US too—but Halifax?!? I've heard the same occurs in Vancouver too.
hluska 3y ago
This is an excellent comment and I will agree that we really fucked the dog. I love how “fucked the dog” is the one bit of slang that Canadians can always use to identify each other online. All of this convinces me that we need more diversity in city and town councils. For better or for worse, many city councils have been largely composed of realtors. However, we have reached a point where we need software developers, anti poverty activists, environmental activists and the like on councils. More diverse opinions can only help us achieve sustainable growth and avoid a far greater housing crisis.
- canadianfella 3y ago
  [dead]
mparnisari 3y ago
> A nearby municipality's mayor is requesting a 6 month pause on development. Can you share a link? I'd like to read more
- steve_adams_86 3y ago
  https://www.timescolonist.com/local-news/view-royal-mayor-calls-for-six-month-pause-on-new-development-7102592 https://www.timescolonist.com/local-news/view-royal-mayor-ca...
screye 3y ago
We need to call it what it is : Hoarding & Extortion. By artificially limiting housing, the house owners get to charge whatever they want. Housing is the biggest 1 time expense of any person's life & the biggest contributor to their wealth. By making housing expensive, homeowning Canadian residents (Silent Gen, Boomers & elder GenX) have been able to facilitate a massive transfer of wealth from non-house owners (Millenials, Poor people & Recent immigrants) I'll preemptively counter those who think that "Its an investment, so I deserve to make money on it." Well, you don't get to choke the market by limiting supply, if you also want to make money on the resulting supply. That is a Cartel, a Mafia, a Gang. And that's exactly what housing is like on the west coast. A gang of old people are here for their payday, and they'll have it even if it means putting a gun to your head. This is very much a generational problem. Of the majority (homeowners are more than 50% of the population) is aggressively suppressing the minority (significant minority, but still) with very clear demographic lines.

earleybird 3y ago

In IT, when ever I hear the phrase "we don't have the luxury of planning" I know with a high probability that the project will fail.

soperj 3y ago

> A nearby municipality's mayor is requesting a 6 month pause on development. View Royal mayor was going to do that regardless, if you look at his track record this is what he stands for. Provincial Govt will hopefully make an example out of them. They already had an updated community plan which he purposely kiboshed so that he could institute this pause.

steve_adams_86 3y ago
Yes, this is why I have that feeling that we're so out of sync and people are so blind to the consequences. This is a person who we can give the benefit of the doubt that they want to do the right thing for their community. To them, community planning and maintaining a certain status quo is genuinely important and meaningful, and no doubt, their community is asking for it to varying degrees. But we don't have that kind of agency. We don't have the wealth in communities like View Royal to insulate ourselves from the consequences of inaction. We're fooling ourselves, but I suspect it's quite easy to do so because we've never known any different. Yet we no longer have the boom of various resource extraction as we had when we initially scaled out these communities. We no longer have the space and freedom to sprawl so effortlessly. We have inherited something from a time that is economically, politically, and geographically unrecognizable. It's a monolith of ideals we can't sustain. I suppose a major issue is the complexity involved and frankly, our broader inability (including my own, to be clear) to fully understand where we're coming from and where we're going. Frankly though I would say we're coming from an era of opportunity and entering one of relative scarcity with necessitated resourcefulness that we evidently don't yet possess. And yes, I'm extremely hopeful that the Province will actually execute on making an example of them. It's yet to be seen that they're aware and ready to take action in a manner that will actually foment meaningful results. The fact that they imposed the timeline for action in the first place gives me some hope, though.
- soperj 3y ago
  I think the main issue is that they haven't amalgamated these small communities. View Royal is home to the biggest hospital on the island and less than 12,000 people. There's no reason for Greater Victoria, a population center of 400,000 people to be broken into 12 municipalities.

icepat 3y ago

Not only housing, but also health care. The system is far overcapacity in most urban areas. There's just not enough doctors, care homes, or hospital beds for the entire country. It was a major reason for me expatriating. The housing issue, and stagflation was also a major contributor, but I had to seriously ask myself if I felt safe getting old in Canada. And the answer was a resounding no.

TMWNN 3y ago
>Not only housing, but also health care. The system is far overcapacity in most urban areas. There's just not enough doctors, care homes, or hospital beds for the entire country. Context for others: An amazingly high portion of Canadians don't have a family doctor <https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/despite-more-doctors-many-canadians-don-t-have-a-family-physician-report-1.4611149 https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/despite-more-doctors-many-cana...>. In Atlantic Canada (the four easternmost provinces) it is impossible, repeat impossible, to get a family doctor if you don't have one <https://web.archive.org/web/20190226051406/https://www.thetelegram.com/in-depth/doctor-shortage/what-we-learned-and-what-you-said-about-doctor-shortage-in-atlantic-canada-286436/ https://web.archive.org/web/20190226051406/https://www.thete...>. It's one thing to have shortages in rural areas—that happens in the US too—but Halifax?!? I've heard the same occurs in Vancouver too.

hluska 3y ago

This is an excellent comment and I will agree that we really fucked the dog. I love how “fucked the dog” is the one bit of slang that Canadians can always use to identify each other online. All of this convinces me that we need more diversity in city and town councils. For better or for worse, many city councils have been largely composed of realtors. However, we have reached a point where we need software developers, anti poverty activists, environmental activists and the like on councils. More diverse opinions can only help us achieve sustainable growth and avoid a far greater housing crisis.

canadianfella 3y ago
[dead]

mparnisari 3y ago

> A nearby municipality's mayor is requesting a 6 month pause on development. Can you share a link? I'd like to read more

steve_adams_86 3y ago
https://www.timescolonist.com/local-news/view-royal-mayor-calls-for-six-month-pause-on-new-development-7102592 https://www.timescolonist.com/local-news/view-royal-mayor-ca...

screye 3y ago

We need to call it what it is : Hoarding & Extortion. By artificially limiting housing, the house owners get to charge whatever they want. Housing is the biggest 1 time expense of any person's life & the biggest contributor to their wealth. By making housing expensive, homeowning Canadian residents (Silent Gen, Boomers & elder GenX) have been able to facilitate a massive transfer of wealth from non-house owners (Millenials, Poor people & Recent immigrants) I'll preemptively counter those who think that "Its an investment, so I deserve to make money on it." Well, you don't get to choke the market by limiting supply, if you also want to make money on the resulting supply. That is a Cartel, a Mafia, a Gang. And that's exactly what housing is like on the west coast. A gang of old people are here for their payday, and they'll have it even if it means putting a gun to your head. This is very much a generational problem. Of the majority (homeowners are more than 50% of the population) is aggressively suppressing the minority (significant minority, but still) with very clear demographic lines.