VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – A lot has been said about the high price of housing in Vancouver, but what about our “lifestyle” bubble?
It’s a term used in a recent update to Port Metro Vancouver’s long-range plan, which attempts to set out a vision for the Lower Mainland through the year 2050.
One of the more extreme scenarios the port authority envisions is a region without significant industry other than those that service tourists and wealthy residents.
“This is something that, at some level, everyone who lives in or visits Vancouver is aware of: the idea of a resort city,” says Chris Sorenson, who writes about the issue in this week’s Maclean’s.
“But I thought it was interesting that it was on the radar of the port, which is such a major economic actor in the region.”
Sorenson says a key issue for the port authority is the dwindling supply of industrial space near marine terminals.
“The port authority has a very particular problem in that it takes a fair amount of land and waterfront for its operations and there’s also a lot of adjacent industrial land that gets used for distribution centres. The port says it is quickly running out of that type of land because a lot of it is being converted to residential use,” Sorenson tells NEWS 1130.
“The CEO of the port authority says it is approaching crisis levels and they figure they have about 10 years left of industrial land left before they hit a wall.”
Sorensen says it is part of Vancouver’s existential crisis — our livability is driving up housing prices, pushing out the middle class and putting pressure on industry.
“On the one hand, you have this incredibly beautiful and livable city that people from all over the world want to relocate to. But on the other hand, because of rising property values and the attitudes that along with them, you have business worried about being crowded out. You’d end up with this primarily service-oriented economy.”
Or, as Sorensen more bluntly puts it, a city of millionaire homeowners and their support staff.
“The issue for Vancouver is that once prices become so high, all the people who are supposed to provide those services can no longer afford to live there. You could find yourself with a labour shortage.”
Sorenson says these are all issues Vancouver is grappling with. “It’s just interesting to hear the port — which is such a big economic driver for the region — spell it out in such stark terms.”
It’s a term used in a recent update to Port Metro Vancouver’s long-range plan, which attempts to set out a vision for the Lower Mainland through the year 2050.
One of the more extreme scenarios the port authority envisions is a region without significant industry other than those that service tourists and wealthy residents.
“This is something that, at some level, everyone who lives in or visits Vancouver is aware of: the idea of a resort city,” says Chris Sorenson, who writes about the issue in this week’s Maclean’s.
“But I thought it was interesting that it was on the radar of the port, which is such a major economic actor in the region.”
Sorenson says a key issue for the port authority is the dwindling supply of industrial space near marine terminals.
“The port authority has a very particular problem in that it takes a fair amount of land and waterfront for its operations and there’s also a lot of adjacent industrial land that gets used for distribution centres. The port says it is quickly running out of that type of land because a lot of it is being converted to residential use,” Sorenson tells NEWS 1130.
“The CEO of the port authority says it is approaching crisis levels and they figure they have about 10 years left of industrial land left before they hit a wall.”
Sorensen says it is part of Vancouver’s existential crisis — our livability is driving up housing prices, pushing out the middle class and putting pressure on industry.
“On the one hand, you have this incredibly beautiful and livable city that people from all over the world want to relocate to. But on the other hand, because of rising property values and the attitudes that along with them, you have business worried about being crowded out. You’d end up with this primarily service-oriented economy.”
Or, as Sorensen more bluntly puts it, a city of millionaire homeowners and their support staff.
“The issue for Vancouver is that once prices become so high, all the people who are supposed to provide those services can no longer afford to live there. You could find yourself with a labour shortage.”
Sorenson says these are all issues Vancouver is grappling with. “It’s just interesting to hear the port — which is such a big economic driver for the region — spell it out in such stark terms.”
Hello, my name is Jack Sparrow. I'm a 50 year old self-employed Pirate from the Caribbean.
No comments:
Post a Comment