Dear Editor,
Re: Tweaking won’t solve housing crisis, Opinion, Oct. 21
I agree with Eve Edmonds questioning why City of Richmond staff refuse to support the Richmond Caring Place proposal to build two towers of affordable housing on the city-owned site.
It makes no sense whatsoever. It’s easy to talk about policies to encourage affordable housing but talk is just that and policies, if not flexible enough to encourage the aspirations of the policies, are merely pieces of worthless paper.
I was a founding volunteer director of Catalyst Community Development Society — a very successful B.C. non-profit developer of affordable housing, retiring three years ago.
While I was not involved in Catalyst’s work with the Richmond Caring Place, I’m familiar with the basics of the development proposal. It makes very good sense and it’s based on models that have achieved affordable housing in other places in B.C.
Richmond needs to address the severe housing crisis in Metro Vancouver with a multi-faceted response. Almost all of the responses need to be based on supplying housing in a market — at all levels — where demand exceeds supply.
Especially crucial is responding to the need for housing that is affordable for those who are income-challenged.
For the city not to jump at the opportunity to work closely and rapidly with a long-established local non-profit makes no sense at all.
It’s time Richmond’s much too disengaged city councillors become real activists on this and turn this opportunity into a significant number of new below-market rental homes.
Bob Ransford
RICHMOND
