Quote:
Originally Posted by Traum
It's either the RE bubble popping, or the city becomes an empty shell and vacation resort for the rich. Neither is healthy in the long term, and I'd arguably say the latter (resort for the rich) is far more damaging.
But none of the politicians have the will nor the guts to take on this political challenge. It is far easier to just pay lip service and enact ineffective policies that looks good on paper (much like what Mayor Bike Boy is doing with the empty houses tax, and claiming how he can't change the big picture as "just a mayor").
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There are three levels of government in this country, all with different interests. It's hard enough to get two people to work together (husband and wife), so what makes you think that 3 governments can work together to solve a very complex problem that largely affects only 2 cities in the country? Because Vancouver is special? Gregor's jurisdiction ends at Boundary Road. Last I heard, houses in Maple Ridge were selling for 700K. Why not blame Mayor Read for not opening up more land to develop? (Maple Ridge has lots of it and most of it is not in the ALR) Is that affordable for the supposed average couple who makes 75K/year?
The only way for the housing market to truly correct to "fundamentals" (i.e. 3 times the average income) is for something undeniably bad to happen, such as an earthquake, an epidemic, or an act of war/terror. This would be bad for everyone.