Opinion: Housing is a top priority, so in this year's elections, residents will use voting to show what approach they want to see. ..
Vancouver Mayor and Parliament are the biggest in their mission Faced with some of the decisions When this four-year term enters its final stages, it will include Broadway plans, city-wide plans, Westside public housing, and East Vancouver's residential towers.
These are four clear decisions, all related to housing and will be a big issue in this year's local elections. How many homes should be built in Vancouver, what kind, in what area, and how quickly. Voters will help incumbents and their challengers consider their position to tackle these important issues this summer and decide who should join Vancouver's next council after the October elections.
This week, the council will consider theVancouver Plan. This is a 30-year project specifically designed to open up the low-density residential areas that make up the majority of the city's assets. Currently, most single-family homes are occupied. The city-wide plan allows more than half of Vancouver's inhabitants to meet their daily needs by enabling multiplexes and townhouses across these zones and creating a "perfect neighborhood" with more facilities and shopping. We aim to deal with the fact that we live in areas where we cannot walk around.
At a media briefing last week, Vancouver planning manager Karis Hiebert strongly supported respondents' "perfect neighborhood" and the introduction of multiplexes in low-density areas. Said that. But at the same time, Hiebert was concerned about the change in "potential changes or losses to the look and feel of the neighborhood and the character of the neighborhood," hoping for more public involvement in the plan before making the change. I said there is.
This seemingly contradictory feedback reflects what Congress regularly hears from the general public. Some residents are dissatisfied with the belief that Vancouver needs to add more homes sooner, while others are angry that the city is changing too fast.
Last month, the councilapproved the Broadway project, including a 40-story tower along Broadway and a small apartment in a low-density residential area, a "second downtown" in the city. We have realized a new kind of housing. Side road. A plan that brings together both expertsandexpertstopraisesandcriticismsis Vancouver's previous plan. Unlike renters and condos, we focus on private rental housing rather than renters and condos.
The five declared mayor candidates will be split in the Broadway program. Incumbent Mayor Kennedy Stewart, ABC Ken Sim, and Progress Vancouver's Mark Marissen support the plan, saying they will bring terribly needed housing, especially rental apartments. ..
Meanwhile, Coun is a candidate for the mayor of the team. Both Colleen Hardwick and John Cooper of the NPA were very critical of the Broadway program and opposed its adoption.
Cooper said he favored density, but the "poorly designed" plan lacked equipment and park space, andpraised theNPA Coun. Melissa De Genova voted against her admitting that she was "standing with the inhabitants."
Hardwick said the plan "helps the false story of supply shortages," predicting that increased density will lead to mobility, higher rents and house prices.
Meanwhile, a several-day hearing began last week, a controversial 13-story support housing project for people at risk of the homeless. More than 260 people have registered to attend Congress. For Kitsilano.
The city received more than 1,700 communications regarding the project, and about two-thirds objected.
More than 260 people have registered to attend the council on affordable housing projects. This is many in a single project. The council listened to the public for three days last week, with most speakers opposed to the Kit project, and both supporters and opponents enthusiastically pleaded. Many opposed the location opposite the elementary school, while others opposed losing its height, shadow, or use of the vacant lot as a dog run. Supporters said the project would save lives.
The council plans to resume hearings next week, but it is not yet clear when the final decision on the Arbutus Street project will be made.
Another type of housing proposal across the town is also expected to soon attractdissenting. It has 24 to 29 floors and is a mixture of condominiums, market rental housing, and sub-market rental housing. An organizedneighborhood groupwas mobilized to fight development. The hearing was scheduled for next week, but the schedule was changed after that and the new date was not immediately available.
B. C. Jill Atky, CEO of the Nonprofit Housing Association, spends a lot of time listening to the public addressing various city councils on all sorts of affordable housing projects. He wants more affordable homes in the community.
But Atkey says the new poll suggests that "you can't go any further than the truth."
Votingwas commissioned by British Columbia. Non-Profit Housing Association, Co-operative Housing Federation of B. C. , And the Aboriginal Housing Management Association last month,Research Co
B. C. We conducted an online survey of a total of 2,000 adults. 73% of respondents helped local governments permit and streamline the rezoning process for high-speed rental housing, with a particular focus on affordable housing, and 66% consistently non-profit and collaborate. Found in the official community plan to support delegating approval decisions to staff for the development of the union.
2019 Research Co. According to a survey, 71% of Vancouver citizens believe that townhouses should be allowed to be built. Family homes are allowed. Research President Mario Canseco said he would like to ask the question again soon about the updated number.
At thepanel last month, Vancouver Sun announcedConversations Live, B. C. Hosted byHousing Minister David Evie shared a story about Senak, the development of 6,000 homes at Kits Point, 11 Towers in the Squamish State. Senak is on reserve land and does not have to go through the normal city hall rezoning process, so it is proceeding much faster than other major developments.
Ebby, who said Senak thought it was "great," recently noticed an onlineVancouver Sun readers poll on the project. He boasted "ugly" results in polls, but he was pleasantly surprised to see that about two-thirds of the respondents supported Senakw.
"People are so dissatisfied with this process that we are happy to see that a home that everyone knows is being built," Eby said. "I tell it to all politicians. Approving more homes is faster and a political winner. I really believe it, and I have a pretty dramatic conversation. I really believe it has changed. "
Some candidates, including the current mayor of Vancouver, seem to agree or at least expect Eby to be right. Yes, approving more homes sooner will be a political winner.
Other voters and candidates want to brake.
Rezoning hearings, Vancouver Sun reader votes, and even expert votes do not tell you exactly what approach Vancouver citizens want to approach housing. Even elections are not a perfect representation of the city — data show that are unlikely to be voted by renters, young people and migrants in Vancouver's elections. ..
However, housing will be voted in October and will be the best opportunity for Vancouver residents to let the city hall know what they want to see.
dfumano @ postmedia. com
twitter. com / fumano
Postmedia Network Inc. Sign up to receive daily headline news from one division, Vancouver Sun. By clicking the
Thank you for registering.
A welcome email has been sent. If you don't see it, check your junk folder.
The next issue of Vancouver Sun Headline News will arrive in your inbox shortly.
