Freedom is about Options— Part 2: Housing
The word freedom has been hijacked by some extreme folk in Canada and the United States lately. Folks who stand on over-passes and wave Canadian flags at you, but when you talk to them, their values don’t represent my Canada, nor any definition of freedom that I can agree with.
True freedom is the freedom to make choices
No choices? No freedom. In local government, the choices we have the most influence over are:
Transportation
Housing
Housing options
Housing options look like a variety of home sizes, in a variety of locations, and at a variety of price points. Housing options also include an abundance of choices in those housing types whether you are renting or buying. Everyone’s circumstances are different, and I trust each individual to make the best choices for themselves. So you can start to see the connection between Tolerance and Freedom.
Currently, more than 80% of zoning in the Districts of North Vancouver and West Vancouver is single-family homes. In order to create options, I would like to see a relatively equal number of:
Single-family homes
Mid-rise multi-family homes
High-rise multi-family homes
We need to come to agreement on the ideal proportion. There should be a greater number of units at lower and mid-level income levels—proportionate to our population which generally looks like the chart below. Currently with so much land devoted to single-family homes, the proportion does not result in much equity.
Source: Canadian Census 2021
The housing crisis is 50 years in the making of poor zoning decisions. It’s going to take us decades to sort it out in a fair and equitable manner. It would have been better if it had been sorted out 50 years ago, so we had better get started now.
In terms of ownership versus renting - the Canada wide statistic is that about 2/3 of Canadians own their home, meaning that only 1/3 of Canadians are renting. Ownership is a bigger hurdle to change your home as your work, and life circumstances change, whereas renting in many ways allows more freedom. I believe there need to be more options to rent homes on the North Shore - full single-family homes, mid-rise rental units, and high-rise units - including 3 or more bedroom options in those multi-unit buildings, and there needs to be a variety of options in terms of high-quality or higher end housing units for rent, as well as lesser quality, and perhaps more affordable housing units as well.
The manifestation of Freedom is options, and we need to work to make all of these options and variety more available in our community.
That is the kind of Freedom I want to see here on the Northshore, and the kind of Freedom I want us all to have and to live with.
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