The mayor commented in the paper that the lack of affordable housing was a product of our success. Is she delusional?
There are many factors involved on the housing affordability crunch, and the municipality has a hand in the prices only in that our elected officials have not managed to control the costs of operating the municipality, thus increasing taxes that are passed on to renters and buyers. Those increases add to the unaffordability.
If one were to put a pin in downtown Vancouver and use a length of string to mark out one hour of commute, Squamish falls into that. Factor in the lower price of gas, people eschewing the ’burbs, speculators and lack of currency controls in China, and you have a boom in Squamish.
If our mayor wants to take credit for the increases, it will be only fair to blame her for any decreases that occur.
Dave Colledge
Brackendale
