Category Archives: Housing, Real Estate and Property Taxes

It’s cheaper to buy in the suburbs

July 16, 2012 By in Housing, Real Estate and Property Taxes Tags: , 3 Comments

223 North in the Maple Ridge urban village, with units starting at $139,000 (the author has no financial or other interest in the project, other than generally supporting town centre development)

My recent and enthusiastic West End Vancouver blog post generated a Facebook comment from our friend Jackie Chow.  She labelled the West End urban villages in one word: “expensive.”

For renters, the West End is so close to downtown Vancouver jobs that you can ditch your vehicle and save enough money to cover the extra rent costs.  But if someone  wants to buy in the West End, and that someone has two or more children, what then?   There’s not much available at any price, other than small condo apartments in towers. From this point of view, it’s fair to say that West End Vancouver ranks low on the livability scale for some potential residents.  There are townhomes and low-rise options  in Kitsilano across the bridge, but the purchase costs are very high. Continue reading →

How much is your public library worth to you?

March 5, 2012 By in Housing, Real Estate and Property Taxes, Urban Life and Local Government Tags: , , 1 Comment

In a 2004 opinion survey by the Fraser Valley Regional Library, 88.4 per cent of 2,000 respondents judged their local library to be “a vital part of the community.”

The Government of B.C. reports annually on library costs and library use.  The latest report shows that about 45 per cent of Metro Vancouver/ Fraser Valley are library cardholders. This number does not measure active users, but it testifies to widespread  good intentions.

In 2010, local governments in Fraseropolis spent an average of $41 per resident on public library operations, or a total of $106.6 million.  Local government contributed more than 85 per cent of library revenues; fines, provincial grants and private donations made up most of the rest. Continue reading →

Affordable housing: a survey of 15 Metro Vancouver cities

February 15, 2012 By in Housing, Real Estate and Property Taxes, Metro Vancouver Tags: , , 5 Comments

In my February 9 post on measures for comparing B.C. communities,  I overlooked a 2011 report by Margaret Eberle and associates on affordable housing and housing diversity.

The report, submitted to the Metro Vancouver Housing Corporation,  measures the performance of 15 Metro Vancouver municipalities — the 15 largest — in implementing the 2007 regional housing strategy. Continue reading →

Petitioning Ottawa for a break on rental housing

December 21, 2011 By in Housing, Real Estate and Property Taxes, Metro Vancouver Tags: , , 2 Comments

The latest report from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation shows that average rents in Metro Vancouver are the highest in Canada, at $1,237 for a two-bedroom suite in a 1990s apartment building.  Vacancy rates in autumn 2011 were low and declining on the west side of the region — 1.2 per cent in Richmond, 0.7 per cent in the City of Vancouver and 0.4 per cent in the District of North Van.

The Metro Vancouver regional authority has warned for somet time that a critical shortage of affordable rental space is  hurting families and contributing to homelessness.  In the 2006 census, 55 per cent of homes in the City of Vancouver were rental properties, and more than 40 per cent in Burnaby, New West and  North Van City.  There’s demand for more units, but they’re not getting built.   Continue reading →