Death of the Single Family Home

[masterpoonhunter]

(Paraphrasing here from a number of sources the past week)

New zoning bylaws in Vancouver allow or will allow soon, usage ratios to fill the lot, which means multiplexes can be put in where a single family home once was. No yard, if a garage its within the main structure and so on.

Further for the Broadway corridor plan as a start, I understand Fraser Street is next, properties within specific distance circles can have multi storied buildings built as in 20/16/6 stories or something along those lines based on distance from the Transit Hub ie Sky Train Station along the lines of near, within 400m, 800m and so on.

Find where the Skytrain Stations and Bus Loops are on a map, then draw circles to see which properties will then be taxed for expected use, ie the air above a 2 story home will be taxed as if its a 6 story or higher building.

There is even talk of (GASP!) putting the Shaughnessy properties into this pool!

I expect pretty much every homeowner in these 'circles' will take one look at the proposed tax bill and they'll sell out to the first developer with a good offer, then the house that many of the boomers, their echos, their GenX's and so on grew up in, will be just another space where you drive by and say "what was there".

The Paradise I moved to so long ago has been eroding away for years but I fear it really will be Paradise Lost .

 

[westwoody]

Yeah the Van I grew up in was so nice!
There were some beautiful 2 and 3 story walkups in the Denman area with incredible woodwork trim and floors.
Now it all looks like Hong Kong.

 

[We_b_jamin]

Any major European city has been 3-6 stories high for more than 100 years. You got lucky in your youth, Vancouver density needs to catch up if you want a nurse to be able to live here 20 years down the road when you’re in the hospital or old folks home.

 

[masterpoonhunter]

Any major European city has been 3-6 stories high for more than 100 years. You got lucky in your youth, Vancouver density needs to catch up if you want a nurse to be able to live here 20 years down the road when you’re in the hospital or old folks home.

And every major European city has maintained its heritage as well as having buildings that can last a 100 years. Unlike here where its a mow it down mentality whether the building was built to last or not.

As for affordability, well that is a topic all on its own.

And as a sidebar, no way I'm ending up in a hospital or old folks home (ie departure lounge). I have a buddy pact that says I'll be strapped into the Cadillac going over the cliff at high speed with some high energy rock blasting out of the sound system.

 

[jgg]

And every major European city has maintained its heritage as well as having buildings that can last a 100 years. Unlike here where its a mow it down mentality whether the building was built to last or not.

As for affordability, well that is a topic all on its own.

And as a sidebar, no way I'm ending up in a hospital or old folks home (ie departure lounge). I have a buddy pact that says I'll be strapped into the Cadillac going over the cliff at high speed with some high energy rock blasting out of the sound system.

 

[PuntMeister]

I consider what the gov’ts are doing is an outrageous assault on property owners, as well as a tax grab veiled as affordable housing action.

This is not the Canada I know. We’re slipping dangerously from social consciousness to socialism. We may well see changes in both Federal and Provincial governments if the Death of the Single Family Home and forced-build taxation errodes our civil rights as a last failed attempt to quell market forces underlaying housing costs.

 

[Uncled]

Soviet style architecture is the answer to Vancouver’s housing problems, Comrades !

 

[blondeluver]

Any major European city has been 3-6 stories high for more than 100 years. You got lucky in your youth, Vancouver density needs to catch up if you want a nurse to be able to live here 20 years down the road when you’re in the hospital or old folks home.

But the issue is they did all the rezoning, built all these low to midrise buildings but they didn't upgrade the freaking road/power infrastructures as a whole! We are getting more congested with traffic everywhere nowadays and have you noticed we have had more power related issues in the past 5 years? Transformer blew up underground, caught fire... you name it! The government collected all the extra taxes but put in less than minimum to maintain the infrastructures!

 

[westwoody]

Soviet style architecture is the answer to Vancouver’s housing problems, Comrades !

View attachment 80381

Sad fact is there is not room on the planet for everyone to have a 60x120 lot and a single family detached house.

Nobody likes ugly apartment blocks but where else are you going to put all these humans.

 

[rlock]

Cities in Europe do not depend on the single family home generally, that is true. But keep in mind they do have rural areas with those, and also keep in mind owning the land you live on was never as common for them.
They have a lot more variety of apartments too, not just these cheaply made 1 bedroom chicken boxes.

I'm of the opinion that there will never be "every neighbourhood is affordable for all" cities. Even communist countries had good neighbourhoods where bosses lived, and shitty areas for the lowliest of labourers.

You are going to have nicer areas that have bigger homes, and more land for less people. And then there will be row houses, townhouses, and various sizes of apartments. In apartments, ehether rented or owned, you're going to have luxury penthouse suites, but also places with cheap little suites. It is important for a city to have a mixture of housing types, not depend on some cookie-cutter approach of only one kind being replicated everywhere.

Yes, apartments are more efficient, in terms of density, but you also have to consider urban green space, and preserve it, or else you end up with a city that's a concrete nightmare. Single family homes did at least let families have a bit of backyard for kids to go play outside by themselves. Some high-rise with a gym facility is just not the same. Parks are therefore always necessary if you do not have yards, but that still involves the same thing: there will be some land that is not stacked with housing up to the sky.

European cities are actually not that high-rise crazy as we are either; they tend to keep things mid-rise, but are not likely to sacrifice livability on the altar of leveraging more profits from every possible thing.

The problem with our cities is that they are developing based on chasing the grand ponzi scheme called real estate speculation; we are building plenty of homes, but they are designed to be marketed to global capital, and not really for our own citizens to live their lives in.
So why should it surprise anyone they are unaffordable? You think normal people with honest incomes can compete with vast amounts of black or grey market money that's from places like Shanghai, Dubai, Texas, Mumbai, London, laundered by way of Cayman Islands, Panama, etc. and then the speculators who place bets on where that artificial scarcity will take place most? Nope. We have no chance, unless we can find a governing party that will literally put a gun to the investors' heads and say "this is ours, not yours".
I don't think even the NDP has the balls to do that. The political parties almost all have a stake in perpetuating the laundering & speculation game, not ending it.

And every major European city has maintained its heritage as well as having buildings that can last a 100 years. Unlike here where its a mow it down mentality whether the building was built to last or not.

It's true. The mentality here is still very throw-away, just setting up buildings to be torn down for the next level of marketing. Tremendous waste of resources, a lot of which just gets sent to the landfill, not even recycled.

Sad fact is there is not room on the planet for everyone to have a 60x120 lot and a single family detached house.

Nobody likes ugly apartment blocks but where else are you going to put all these humans.

Very true. Aside from the issues caused by global financial scheming, the plain fact is the world has 8 billion people and still growing. And those people want to live in nice places like ours, not in barren wastelands that can't support much population naturally.

 

[80watts]

As a Canadian, I find most Canadians that have the cash, will want to go to another place other than Canada, because its cold in the winter. Vancouver and southern Van island (Victoria) have the nicest all round weather year round.
The less of the cash rich people just have to put up with Canada.
From Delta up the Fraser river was rich farmland, we paved it over with houses and everyone decided to buy vegetables from California.
Piece of advice, if your house is 80 years old, burn it down before the historical society gets hold of you finances....
The only thing that is permanent is stone, like the pyramids, but hey nobody lived in those things. Although roman concrete has lasted centuries.
So instead of building with wood, use roman concrete to build your new icf house. Design it so you can go a least 4 stories up in case of future generations.
People have to think in the long term. not this market of quick rich schemes.
And please don't build in flood areas (whether its is a 50, 100 or 10,000 year flood), like those people from Calgary did, which made my earthquake insurance go up in Victoria to cover the insurance company expenses.
Please do not complain to me about any insurance scams, when you know people who have claimed things on their household insurance and car insurance to cover loss and theft. We all pay in the end.
Just like taxes. In 20 years my house tax has doubled and I have not seen an increase in services or road improvements in front of my house. If you work for the government or the insurance companies, its the best scam ever.... Why is it that all tax increases always outdoes the inflation rate?
So when people talk about freedom and social nets etc, they are full of BS, cause we are all slaves to the almighty scam of taxes and insurance.
When a government raises the taxes in order to afford its poor people, I have to wonder what kind of world we live in. When over 50% of your money is taken in some form of tax. Income, land, liquor, gas, pst/gst.

"We paved paradise and put up a parking lot." Eagles

 

[angry anderson]

As a Canadian, I find most Canadians that have the cash, will want to go to another place other than Canada, because its cold in the winter. Vancouver and southern Van island (Victoria) have the nicest all round weather year round.
The less of the cash rich people just have to put up with Canada.
From Delta up the Fraser river was rich farmland, we paved it over with houses and everyone decided to buy vegetables from California.
Piece of advice, if your house is 80 years old, burn it down before the historical society gets hold of you finances....
The only thing that is permanent is stone, like the pyramids, but hey nobody lived in those things. Although roman concrete has lasted centuries.
So instead of building with wood, use roman concrete to build your new icf house. Design it so you can go a least 4 stories up in case of future generations.
People have to think in the long term. not this market of quick rich schemes.
And please don't build in flood areas (whether its is a 50, 100 or 10,000 year flood), like those people from Calgary did, which made my earthquake insurance go up in Victoria to cover the insurance company expenses.
Please do not complain to me about any insurance scams, when you know people who have claimed things on their household insurance and car insurance to cover loss and theft. We all pay in the end.
Just like taxes. In 20 years my house tax has doubled and I have not seen an increase in services or road improvements in front of my house. If you work for the government or the insurance companies, its the best scam ever.... Why is it that all tax increases always outdoes the inflation rate?
So when people talk about freedom and social nets etc, they are full of BS, cause we are all slaves to the almighty scam of taxes and insurance.
When a government raises the taxes in order to afford its poor people, I have to wonder what kind of world we live in. When over 50% of your money is taken in some form of tax. Income, land, liquor, gas, pst/gst.

"We paved paradise and put up a parking lot." Eagles

"We paved paradise and put up a parking lot." Eagles

Joni Mitchell


Too many fucking people.

 

[masterpoonhunter]

Too many people.
Maybe Thanos in the End Game was right, cut it all in half ...

The human race is doing just fine, thriving, growing, doing what it does.
At the cost of the extinction of so many species.

At any rate, I for one am keeping my eyes open as to what will be lost in this city the next few years. Every time I drive past a transit hub I am looking at what the city has now and what will become a development project soon in that area. All the "Land Assembly" signs lining streets, and not just main drags, but some neighbourhood areas.

I hope someone is taking pictures and keeping them somewhere.

 

[CapnMaynards]

Good, fuck em, they're a waste of space.

 

[We_b_jamin]

And every major European city has maintained its heritage as well as having buildings that can last a 100 years. Unlike here where its a mow it down mentality whether the building was built to last or not.

As for affordability, well that is a topic all on its own.

And as a sidebar, no way I'm ending up in a hospital or old folks home (ie departure lounge). I have a buddy pact that says I'll be strapped into the Cadillac going over the cliff at high speed with some high energy rock blasting out of the sound system.

You and you friend in the pink Cadillac are the minority/exception. Unfortunately, it is socially unacceptable to stuff old geezers into cadi's (well any vehicle really) and drive them all off of cliffs. Such an involuntary population reduction program would be highly scrutinized. Furthermore, despite your stated intent, there is a high probability that you will become incapacitated and require extensive care for months if not years prior to your ultimate demise. Its difficult to drive the caddy off the cliff if you've had a stroke and are physically unable to operate said motor vehicle.. Yes you will rely on your friend, who probably died suddenly and unexpectedly before you. So we need solutions for the general population, not just those with funny ideas of going out in some ridiculous blaze of glory. The amount of old people who have said they will have the "long swim / hike, drive off a cliff," vs the numbers actually reported in the papers.. its laughable. Though every time the police put out the bulleting of the 80+ something with dementia who escaped the old folks home.. I always wonder if they've had a moment of clarity and are trying to make it to the ocean/mountain/caddy.

 

[masterpoonhunter]

You and you friend in the pink Cadillac are the minority/exception. Unfortunately, it is socially unacceptable to stuff old geezers into cadi's (well any vehicle really) and drive them all off of cliffs. Such an involuntary population reduction program would be highly scrutinized. Furthermore, despite your stated intent, there is a high probability that you will become incapacitated and require extensive care for months if not years prior to your ultimate demise. Its difficult to drive the caddy off the cliff if you've had a stroke and are physically unable to operate said motor vehicle.. Yes you will rely on your friend, who probably died suddenly and unexpectedly before you. So we need solutions for the general population, not just those with funny ideas of going out in some ridiculous blaze of glory. The amount of old people who have said they will have the "long swim / hike, drive off a cliff," vs the numbers actually reported in the papers.. its laughable. Though every time the police put out the bulleting of the 80+ something with dementia who escaped the old folks home.. I always wonder if they've had a moment of clarity and are trying to make it to the ocean/mountain/caddy.

Right ... glad you got the humour ...

except its a black Cadillac

F F S

 

[80watts]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-civil-forfeiture-money-laundering-2023-1.6796163#:~:text=The B.C. government has introduced legislation that will,act include the creation of unexplained wealth orders.
All those vaccant homes in the lower mainland/Vancouver. Its common knowledge that nyc has hundreds of properties that criminal money bought expensive condos with cash and then took a loan out on them, enfolding all the banks in their fraud.
I would wager that over half of Vancouvers empty houses are from corrupt sources.
For the empty house tax, make the owner actually show up to pay the tax. Take their fingerprints and see if they are criminals. Confiscate the property and sale at half price.

That might offset the home problem in BC.

You see the authorities just don't think like criminals... they need to fuck them over, not law abiding people.

 

[rlock]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-civil-forfeiture-money-laundering-2023-1.6796163#:~:text=The B.C. government has introduced legislation that will,act include the creation of unexplained wealth orders.
All those vaccant homes in the lower mainland/Vancouver. Its common knowledge that nyc has hundreds of properties that criminal money bought expensive condos with cash and then took a loan out on them, enfolding all the banks in their fraud.
I would wager that over half of Vancouvers empty houses are from corrupt sources.
For the empty house tax, make the owner actually show up to pay the tax. Take their fingerprints and see if they are criminals. Confiscate the property and sale at half price.

That might offset the home problem in BC.

You see the authorities just don't think like criminals... they need to fuck them over, not law abiding people.

Oh, for certain. Money laundering's ties to real estate (and casinos and offshore bansk) was proven by the Cullen Commission. Indeed, they could have gone even deeper with that, but had to wrap it up and file a report.
The laws (both provincial and federal) could be changed so that "true beneficient ownership" must be proven before a person or company can own any property in BC or Canada.

Canada is known for having very weak laws on money laundering. Taxation of capital gains too is pretty lax, as is enforcement of tax evasion / tax sheltering. So those (often black market) "investors" like to come here to play the money laundering & speculation game. And this lax enforcement situation has been something the right wing fostered deliberately, but which the center and left also never bothered to stop when they came to power.

You have to understand just how intimately connected their political careers are to the campaign finance industry. Municipal politicians are the worst - almost all of them have careers that are quite literally sponsored by real estate developers, agents, and property management companies. Laws on campaign donations are weaker the lower down you go, but all these "think tanks" and "alternate free speech media" groups are really just ways to get around the campaign donation limits which exist at higher levels. (What do you think funds all those alt-media sites, youtube & twitter campaigns? Big money finding an outlet to campaign regardless.)

Finally, the governments themselves depend on real estate plays for their budgets - property transfer taxes are meant to discourage flipping, but they benefit every time some rich "investor" pays it as just the cost of doing business. The same way universities and now even public primary & secondary schools are catering to foreign students, because they can charge them an arm and a leg in tuition. Pretty soon, it's no longer a way to protect locals, but a thing which makes them dependent on having access to a constant stream of foreign-based revenue. (COVID travel restrictions nearly bankrupted a lot of schools for that reason.)

Dealing with all this corruption maybe does not mean the single-family home will come back to dominance, but it will affect affordability, if our cities are no longer building zombie projects full of empty suites that exist only to be flipped a short time later.

 

[poonerboi]

View attachment 80176

Canadians don't have to go to those extremes now. MAiD is being made more accesible every day . Apparently , as of March 2024, you don't even need to be dying from some fatal illness anymore. So when I decide on a death-day I'm gonna throw myself a farewell party, spend sometime with an SP or 2 and go to sleep.
From 2016 - 2022 there were 45k canadians that used the service.

 

[Amerix]

Sad fact is there is not room on the planet for everyone to have a 60x120 lot and a single family detached house.

Nobody likes ugly apartment blocks but where else are you going to put all these humans.

No, but there's plenty of room in Canada. We don't need to turn it into a crowded hellhole.