The Editor:
Re: Letter: Young people struggle to buy a home in the Tri-Cities (July 29, 2024)
Dear young people,
I am sorry to say you have been lied to. More supply of condo towers is not going to solve the housing affordability problem and make your future easier. This is a story that has been sold to you by a powerful development industry and their marketing friends. I understand why you would want to believe them so you can feel some hope for the future.
The real reason housing is so unaffordable is because of unchecked greed by developers and investors and governments who enable if not promote this greed. The reality is that B.C. wants the real estate industry to continue to thrive. Real estate is our oil.
The industry responsible for the problem is not going to oversupply the market. Profit is the only motivator. Simple supply and demand economics 101 does not apply to the complicated and controlled housing market. The list goes on.
But you should not have to accept this. There can be a future other than living in massive towers of tiny condos and concrete jungles.
However, it is going to take effort on your part.
You need to demand that local governments start to stand up for people over profits. You need to stand up for your future. The solution is not the development industry becoming less regulated by governments.
Show up to a council meeting. Demand your elected representatives make decisions that represent what you want your future to look like, instead of what you have been told it has to look like.
For example, demand decisions that: reduce land speculation instead of promoting it, require minimum unit and bedroom sizes, provide mandatory affordable rentals, ensure diverse housing forms near transit, and result in levels of growth that can be balanced with other community needs including local jobs so you can find work.
Because while housing is important, your future depends on much more than housing. It also depends on having the infrastructure, parks, hospitals, schools and services you need not just to survive but to thrive.
- Jeff Poste, Port Moody
