Author Topic: Vancouver passes Manhattan and San Francisco!  (Read 1089 times)

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Offline kimmy

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Vancouver passes Manhattan and San Francisco!
« on: October 29, 2017, 12:07:39 pm »
We're #1! We're #1!    A new study just ranked Vancouver as the most unaffordable city in North America!  YAAAAY!!!

https://www.straight.com/news/987356/vancouver-beats-manhattan-and-san-francisco-least-affordable-housing-north-america-study


 -k
Paris - London - New York - Kim City

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Offline Michael Hardner

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Re: Vancouver passes Manhattan and San Francisco!
« Reply #1 on: October 29, 2017, 12:43:15 pm »
I hate the world.

guest7

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Re: Vancouver passes Manhattan and San Francisco!
« Reply #2 on: October 29, 2017, 02:03:07 pm »
Probably the worst traffic too.

Offline Squidward von Squidderson

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Re: Vancouver passes Manhattan and San Francisco!
« Reply #3 on: October 30, 2017, 09:48:45 am »
Probably the worst traffic too.

Hardly...    Canadian cities have nothing on their American counterparts.  Seattle traffic is horrendous, even compared to Vancouver.

guest7

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Re: Vancouver passes Manhattan and San Francisco!
« Reply #4 on: October 30, 2017, 10:37:21 am »
Hardly...    Canadian cities have nothing on their American counterparts.  Seattle traffic is horrendous, even compared to Vancouver.

I think it's second to LA, according to an article I remember.  I can believe it.  It was probably the main reason I got out of there.

That said, I am talking about the Lower Mainland as a whole.  Not just Vancouver itself.

Offline BC_cheque

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Re: Vancouver passes Manhattan and San Francisco!
« Reply #5 on: October 30, 2017, 11:35:27 am »
I wish John Horgan would get it together and ban foreign ownership like New Zealand has done.  It's really the only way to address the issue unlike these stupid surcharge taxes and empty house taxes.  If you can afford to buy a 20 million mansion and leave it empty for years, I'm sure you're not worried about some petty tax.  It's just a cost of business.

Only landed immigrants working in the country and citizens should be able to own property.  Christie Clark sold us out to the highest bidder for so long and now Trudeau is continuing her work. 

Meanwhile, neighbourhoods like Shaughnessy are full of squatters and burglary because of all the empty mansions.  Last week a heritage home worth 14 million was burned down under suspicious circumstances.  If a heritage house is burned more than 60% it can then be torn down and then a house worth 25 million could be built on it, how convenient.  It made me so sad, that house was gorgeous.  Built in 1913. 

Somehow I don't see any level of government wanting to touch this problem though.  They don't want to be the ones responsible for equity meltdown.  Nothing will be done until the have-nots have far surpassed the haves and a revolt is brewing.  Unfortunately, we're not there yet.
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Offline TimG

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Re: Vancouver passes Manhattan and San Francisco!
« Reply #6 on: November 10, 2017, 09:13:00 pm »
Only landed immigrants working in the country and citizens should be able to own property.  Christie Clark sold us out to the highest bidder for so long and now Trudeau is continuing her work.
The data says excessive immigration is what is increasing demand and driving up prices - not foreign ownership although foreign ownership exacerbates the problem. More importantly, it is easy to get around the foreign ownership restrictions with a Canadian listed corporation. If politicians really wanted real estate prices to stabilize they would cut immigration to levels that keeps Canada's population stable at about 35,000,000. This is the only way to reduce the demand driving prices.

 

Offline Omni

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Re: Vancouver passes Manhattan and San Francisco!
« Reply #7 on: November 10, 2017, 09:22:15 pm »
The data says excessive immigration is what is increasing demand and driving up prices - not foreign ownership although foreign ownership exacerbates the problem. More importantly, it is easy to get around the foreign ownership restrictions with a Canadian listed corporation. If politicians really wanted real estate prices to stabilize they would cut immigration to levels that keeps Canada's population stable at about 35,000,000. This is the only way to reduce the demand driving prices.

 

Limiting the population to the current levels would cause our economy to continue to stagnate. Why would you want that?

guest4

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Re: Vancouver passes Manhattan and San Francisco!
« Reply #8 on: November 10, 2017, 09:57:05 pm »
The data says excessive immigration is what is increasing demand and driving up prices - not foreign ownership although foreign ownership exacerbates the problem. More importantly, it is easy to get around the foreign ownership restrictions with a Canadian listed corporation. If politicians really wanted real estate prices to stabilize they would cut immigration to levels that keeps Canada's population stable at about 35,000,000. This is the only way to reduce the demand driving prices.

What happens to our economy if our population is kept stable?


Offline Omni

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Re: Vancouver passes Manhattan and San Francisco!
« Reply #9 on: November 10, 2017, 11:13:32 pm »
What happens to our economy if our population is kept stable?

If I may I would suggest the numbers tell much of the story. We live on a larger land mass than the US with ~10% of the population, and  Even in our most populated cities, relatively low population density hampers infrastructure development. Then of course we have all those wide open spaces where we still have to build connecting highways, railroads, airports etc. Increase that density and the tax base, infrastructure improves as costs per capita go down. And then of course we are blessed with an abundance of natural resources, successful education/healthcare systems, a reputation as one of the most desirable country's to emigrate too, and we produce some of the best hockey players to have ever swung a CCM stick at a piece of frozen black rubber. So I'd say growth is worthwhile as well as inevitable. If we're not having babies then we need to bring them in. Of course we have to vet them, but we do. And having been lucky enough to have traveled to many of the far corners, I'm not afraid of people simply because they have a different skin color. My grade 8 public school teacher was as black as your boot, and a brilliant teacher, so I guess I got off to a good start.     

Offline TimG

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Re: Vancouver passes Manhattan and San Francisco!
« Reply #10 on: November 10, 2017, 11:38:15 pm »
What happens to our economy if our population is kept stable?
Endlessly growing the population is not a long term solution. Eventually we will have to figure out how to manage an economy with a stable population. I see no reason not to start now. More importantly, would you rather live in slow/no growth economy where your kids and grand-kids could can afford housing or would you rather live in faster growth economy where housing prices continue to rise faster than wages and leaves more and more people behind?

More importantly, the idea that Canada has "lots of space" is a myth in practice because everyone wants/needs to live in big cities. If Canada really had "lots of space that people want to use" we would not see out of control property prices.

« Last Edit: November 10, 2017, 11:45:24 pm by TimG »

Offline Omni

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Re: Vancouver passes Manhattan and San Francisco!
« Reply #11 on: November 10, 2017, 11:57:57 pm »
Endlessly growing the population is not a long term solution. Eventually we will have to figure out how to manage an economy with a stable population. I see no reason not to start now. More importantly, would you rather live in slow/no growth economy where your kids and grand-kids could can afford housing or would you rather live in faster growth economy where housing prices continue to rise faster than wages and leaves more and more people behind?

More importantly, the idea that Canada has "lots of space" is a myth in practice because everyone wants/needs to live in big cities. If Canada really had "lots of space that people want to use" we would not see out of control property prices.

Oh c'mon. Canada has tons of space. And the way to create those cities you reckon everybody wants to live in, is simply to increase the population/tax base. There is every reason to start now so kids and grandkids can afford housing as they can in the US. Check the prices down there compared to here. 
« Last Edit: November 11, 2017, 09:51:23 am by JMT »

guest4

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Re: Vancouver passes Manhattan and San Francisco!
« Reply #12 on: November 11, 2017, 12:03:47 am »
It is true that world population is anticipated to stabilize at aroind 11 billion by about 2100.  There are fewer babies being born everywhere, not just in Weatern countries.  It will change economies, no doubt.  Here's an article that discusses what that might look like.
https://worldview.stratfor.com/weekly/population-decline-and-great-economic-reversal

Offline Omni

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Re: Vancouver passes Manhattan and San Francisco!
« Reply #13 on: November 11, 2017, 12:23:29 am »
The data says excessive immigration is what is increasing demand and driving up prices - not foreign ownership although foreign ownership exacerbates the problem. More importantly, it is easy to get around the foreign ownership restrictions with a Canadian listed corporation. If politicians really wanted real estate prices to stabilize they would cut immigration to levels that keeps Canada's population stable at about 35,000,000. This is the only way to reduce the demand driving prices.

 

I would like to hear exactly how you propose to stabilize the population at 35,000,000. Will you force people to have babies? Order them not to grow old and die? Or both.

Offline TimG

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Re: Vancouver passes Manhattan and San Francisco!
« Reply #14 on: November 11, 2017, 12:30:14 am »
I would like to hear exactly how you propose to stabilize the population at 35,000,000. Will you force people to have babies? Order them not to grow old and die? Or both.
Cut immigration to 100K a year or so and the population will be stable given current birth rates. If those rates change the adjust the immigration rates accordingly. It would be very easy to maintain a stable population if there was a political will.