I attended my first apartment viewing only three heady days into August. Its Craigslist ad promised a location only minutes from the beach. After a leisurely walk over, my idyllic summer evening turned quickly into a battleground scene. Dozens of flip-flopped, lululemon'ed denizens milled about the front grounds of a building in the most prized postal-code in the city. For them, Beverly Hills 90210 means nothing, nor does the rent-controlled lower-eastside in Friends. These lotus-eaters' fabled Shangri-las are Kitsilano, the West End and Commercial Drive. And to nab those coveted 1 or 2BR suites, Vancouverites often resort to bribery and bidding wars, lies and fists-full of cash.
And when I wrote an e-mail describing us as "mature, grad-students, responsible and allergic to pets and loud-noise," Elana added "neat, quiet and Asian females," hoping to reap the benefits of reverse discrimination.
The U.S. has everything from transferable affordable housing tax credits issued to affordable housing developers who sell them to provide early stage financing, to dedicated affordable housing mutual funds. He says B.C. (and Vancouver in particular) is in fact one of the least progressive jurisdictions in North America.
So, any tips Victoria's hidden affordable gems? Horror stories?