68 replies to this topic

[G-Man]

I would email him.

For some strange reason I always thought that complex was kind of cool...

[aastra]

...he was talking about how condo development in downtown is forcing low-income people out of their housing...

Condo construction seems to inspire delusions like nothing else.

Were those low-income people sleeping on parking lots or something? Or in the bushes at Dockside Green?

[VicHockeyFan]

The landlord wants to tear the whole mess down and build condos.

[url=http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/story.html?id=2841d044-14e3-42a2-b8f5-77b3dec799a3&k=65823:00f72]Four rental buildings condemned[/url:00f72]

Nitpick: I think that was Murray Langdon on C-FAX today.

Stephen Andrew is in for Joe in the morning.

That landlord is a bit silly for saying stuff like he wants to build condos on the day that he gets a no-occupy order. Cool your heels for a while 'til this blows over, buddy. Then build condos.

I think slum-lord to condo-develper is a stretch, methinks he'll sell the land. Either way, the develpper will have to offer some kind of wacky under market-value housing component to make it fly at council.

[Caramia]

Take a closer look at almost any lower end housing in Victoria and you will find many more occupants than are listed on the paper work. Whenever housing prices are high and vacancies are low that is going to be the case. Unfortunately, the people at the lowest end of the earning scale are probably not at the highest end of the life skills scale. The one or two more functional types - probably also the leaseholders get overwhelmed pretty quickly, but feel connected enough to their family or friends that they cannot allow them to end up on the streets. For landlords, it is a nightmare to have something like this in your building, and you either try to evict and make it somebody else's problem, or you end up dealing with the damage that this kind of clustering causes. The only way out is to somehow increase the housing stock at the low end. Building mid range condos to take some of the pressure off the older buildings so they can settle further down the affordablity scale is one solution, but there has to be others. Evicting buildings that are not up to code or that are unsafe is very short sighted, unless you are managing those evictions somehow - with housing counselors to assist in relocation. If we found all the unsafe and unsanitary housing in Vic and shut it down, our streets and shelters would be over-run. Sometimes conditions that are horrific and unhealthy in the eyes of someone who can afford a decent home, are still preferable to the alternatives for those who cannot.

[Ms. B. Havin]

Take a closer look at almost any lower end housing in Victoria and you will find many more occupants than are listed on the paper work. Whenever housing prices are high and vacancies are low that is going to be the case. Unfortunately, the people at the lowest end of the earning scale are probably not at the highest end of the life skills scale. The one or two more functional types - probably also the leaseholders get overwhelmed pretty quickly, but feel connected enough to their family or friends that they cannot allow them to end up on the streets. For landlords, it is a nightmare to have something like this in your building, and you either try to evict and make it somebody else's problem, or you end up dealing with the damage that this kind of clustering causes. The only way out is to somehow increase the housing stock at the low end. Building mid range condos to take some of the pressure off the older buildings so they can settle further down the affordablity scale is one solution, but there has to be others. Evicting buildings that are not up to code or that are unsafe is very short sighted, unless you are managing those evictions somehow - with housing counselors to assist in relocation. If we found all the unsafe and unsanitary housing in Vic and shut it down, our streets and shelters would be over-run. Sometimes conditions that are horrific and unhealthy in the eyes of someone who can afford a decent home, are still preferable to the alternatives for those who cannot.

Hmm, not to be too cruel about the ISP people who came up with the idea of turning the entire Richmond school area into a housing project, but what you say seems to underscore just how dumb it is to mass people from "the lowest end of the earning scale" together if it's the case that those people often enough also "are probably not at the highest end of the life skills scale." The idea that putting people from "the lowest end of the earning scale" (I like that phrasing so much better than the term "disadvantaged," too, by the way: it leaves dignity intact) into a massed group struck me as wrong from the beginning, but seeing those pictures reinforces this. Much better to integrate LEESs ("lowest end of the earning scale") into regular housing stock since all people learn life skills from observing those who have developed them already.

[PandaBaby]

As someone who lives in a sfh near this intersection in Esquimalt, I'm hoping and praying that Council does not let someone build a glorified housing project on this property. Personally, I'd like to see the pawn shops gone, the money marts kicked out of town, and a nice development on the site. And by nice, I mean a place that no longer houses junkies. Esquimalt has been Victoria's dumpy little sister for far too long. It could be an absolutely amazing municipality (and I live there because I like it)...but it needs someone with vision to try something new.

[Galvanized]

Esquimalt has been Victoria's dumpy little sister for far too long. It could be an absolutely amazing municipality (and I live there because I like it)...but it needs someone with vision to try something new.

Yes!!!

[D.L.]

The burned out building on the NW corner of Douglas & Queens has been torn down.

[G-Man]

^ If any lot in the city has a chance to change the character of a neighbourhood I think that might be it. Lets hope for a proposal here soon!

Hey that might be a good location for the bus depot!

[Rob Randall]

I didn't know where to post this, but at today's CotW meeting, it was revealed that the Morley Soda Fountain building in Waddington Alley beside the old CRD building has a leaky roof. It is not causing structural damage yet but the original interior fixtures are being damaged by the elements. The building is owned by 'Trixie' Kramer (of the "Janion") and she refuses to do anything so the City is going to have to spend our tax money to force legal action on her. The City has been trying for a long time to get permission to penalize delinquent property owners like Kramer.

[Holden West]

T/C has a good picture. This could be amazing one day...



The roof of the old Morley's Soda Factory building (foreground) in Waddington Alley downtown
collapsed under heavy snow last winter.
Photograph by : John McKay, Times Colonist

[G-Man]

Four storeys of glass office space would look cool there.

[Mike K.]

That would be a pretty rad place for an office, IMO.

[aastra]

Are you guys saying you'd like to see it get demolished?

[Mike K.]

I'm saying that would a rad place for an office irrespective of the building.

[G-Man]

I am saying keep the two storey shell that is there and add four storeys of glass office above it. First office does not require parking so there is no need for getting som ein place whihc would be required for if it was residential. It preserves what is there now and adds some cool vitality to the alley.



This on a smaller scale

[aastra]

Something like the Scotiabank Dance Centre?

[G-Man]

Exactly!

[m0nkyman]

Not going to happen in that location. The heritage people would make the largest hissy fit you've ever seen.

[aastra]

I wish they had made a hissy fit when the Salvation Army monstrosity was built. Ditto for that office building on Pandora on the other side of Market Square.

That Salvation Army building really is awful. Sticks out like the proverbial colourless sore thumb.