Dear Editor,
This week, I attended a Richmond Board of Education budget meeting and the news wasn’t good — $10.5 million shortfall.
Not because the board has been overspending — in fact, it has been cutting costs wherever it can — but because enrolment is steadily and rapidly declining.
The reason for this is obvious. Richmond is not doing nearly enough to secure affordable housing. There are new developments going up all around us, yet only a handful of them contain affordable, rental housing.
Why aren’t all new developments required to contain affordable housing? Surely, this would help keep families in the city and boost our school district enrolment.
Currently, the city requires that developments of more than 80 units contain five per cent Low End Market Rentals (LEMR). This 80-unit threshold, however, is much too high.
It seems developments around most schools outside of the city centre are likely to contain less than 80 units and, therefore, are not required to provide LEMR. This means that the lovely townhouses that surround our emptying schools, selling for upwards of $1.5 million dollars, are not going to house families but to house speculators’ investments. Why isn't that number lower? Why not a LEMR in 20 units? 30 units? 40 units? The city should be demanding this change.
We need to make our city accessible to everyone, from students, young families, and working class individuals, to seniors. We can have a vital and growing city where our schools flourish, where families can stay together, and we retain the people who work within the city but can’t afford to live in the city. As such, I am calling on our city’s mayor and councillors to take decisive and immediate action to increase rental stock in the city.
Michelle Li
Richmond
