Dear Editor,
One of the biggest challenges facing the Metro Vancouver area is the lack of affordable housing. Even if folks can find housing, they are faced with crippling rent.
A side effect of the housing market is the fact that the retail and food service industries are having trouble finding employees.
To put it simply, employees cannot work for lower wages and live in the Metro Vancouver area. Sure, they could find affordable housing in areas such as the Fraser Valley but then they face long commutes and huge fuel bills.
To make matters worse, fuel prices in the Metro Vancouver area are the highest in the province.
The solution will take long-term planning. Yes, we need relief right now and building housing co-ops is a good way forward, but it is a short-term plan; they will soon fill up and we will be back to the start.
We must support the short-term plan with a long-term solution. We need to build convenient, effective rapid transit to the Fraser Valley. This will bring existing affordable housing in the valley to people working in Metro Vancouver.
It will take some of the pressure off housing in the Metro Vancouver area, and that will cause local prices to ease somewhat.
Folks can live where they can afford housing and commute to work without a car, and it will cause a number of folks who commute now to leave the car at home and take transit, which will take pressure off existing highway infrastructure.
Even transit fare can strain the family budget. So, people with an income of less than, say, $40,000 per year would be allowed to claim the cost of a monthly transit pass on their income tax if they use transit to commute to work.
This is long-term planning. It will help folks get a roof over their heads, and it will fuel economic growth.
But it requires that our politicians plan further ahead than the next election.
Scott Stewart
Richmond
