3499 replies to this topic

[sebberry]

fyi this is the single father of 5 that the government said don't put his kids on the city bus.
https://www.vicnews....ntown-victoria/
 
video of that story:  https://www.bttoront...-the-bus-alone/
 
his blog 5kids1condo:  https://5kids1condo.com/

We had to order a family to leave our building for having two kids. I can't imagine 5 in a condo.

[sebberry]

Why does one person need a 2-bedroom apartment?

"Need"? Probably not. But perhaps that second room is a bit of an income generator, either rented out or to run a small home business in.

Have you tried living in 500 sq ft?

[Nparker]

...Have you tried living in 500 sq ft?

If I only earned minimum wage I might have to accept that 500 square feet or less was all I could afford.

[spanky123]

Why does one person need a 2-bedroom apartment?

They don’t but comparing apples to oranges is best practice today with socialists.

In the past, we would be comparing two salaries when considering the cost of a 2 or 3 bedroom apartment but of course nobody should ever have to have s roommate.

Edited by spanky123, 06 November 2019 - 09:27 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

i suppose the opposite of the story could be all about how couples in greater victoria only need to work 28 hours per week each to have a 1-bedroom apartment they share.

[Mike K.]

The angle is that everyone's a single parent these days.

[Nparker]

The angle is that everyone's a single parent these days.

That seemed like the underlying (unspoken) theme of the "minimum wage/2-bedroom" message to me as well.

[rmpeers]

Logically, I presume a logical response would be to live further out and commute in...

Also, in discussing how unaffordable Victoria is, there seems to be a lack of discussion about how property taxes affect affordability.

[sebberry]

Logically, I presume a logical response would be to live further out and commute in...

Also, in discussing how unaffordable Victoria is, there seems to be a lack of discussion about how property taxes affect affordability.

Because we make it so easy for folks to commute in. You know, road diets to save the planet and all...

Why are there no buses from the Westshore thta exit the highway at McKenzie to serve that corridor? You have to go all the way to Uptown first.

[Victoria Watcher]

Why are there no buses from the Westshore thta exit the highway at McKenzie to serve that corridor? You have to go all the way to Uptown first.

 

the #51 does morning and late afternoon runs like that.

 

https://www.bctransi...erview?route=51

[VIResident]

Logically, I presume a logical response would be to live further out and commute in...

Also, in discussing how unaffordable Victoria is, there seems to be a lack of discussion about how property taxes affect affordability.

The taxes (multitude taxes) keep going up, up, up and not a peep from the public, hell even those who are jack'n up the taxes give themselves raises to cover the increases and still not a peep.  Lots of people we know, friends and past co-workers have moved on outta here.  Sure, they are in snowy areas of Canada, the stuff they have to shovel and yes, it is cold but thats the price they felt they had to pay in order to own a home, eat, put clothes on their backs and have a little fun every now and again.  They are all happy as can be and lament every so often how much they miss the ocean but not enough to  pay the bloody high 'taxes' and put up with 'lower wages' than elsewhere.

[VIResident]

For the good cause of providing public housing/affordable housing.

 

 

".....says the city is exposing itself to considerable litigation risk by seeking to expropriate the properties for $1 each."

 

".....The city filed a notice of expropriation for the buildings about 15 months ago after it wasn't able to negotiate their purchase, and at the time an official said it was the first time the municipality had pursued expropriation to provide public housing.

"Council is scheduled to vote Wednesday on the expropriation and several people queued up to speak with most applauding the city's proposal to seize the hotels."

 

"(The owners are) not trying to hold on to these properties but it's a bit rich, I think, for the city to block an open-market sale of these properties when there's so much interest."

 

 

https://www.timescol...tion-1.23999741

Edited by VIResident, 06 November 2019 - 03:14 PM.

[VIResident]

Airbnb remits almost $43M in taxes earmarked for housing and tourism initiatives in B.C.

".....The City of Vancouver will receive $3.5 million as its share of the MRDT money."

I wonder how much City of Victoria will get? 

https://www.cbc.ca/n...urism-1.5350122

[Sparky]

^ Tourism Vancouver will receive $3.5M not the City of Vancouver.

The article was in error.

[A Girl is No one]

That seemed like the underlying (unspoken) theme of the "minimum wage/2-bedroom" message to me as well.

Kids come with lots of government funding these days, I wonder if they took that into consideration...

[Victoria Watcher]

“There’s a housing and economic crisis, even among our working tenants,” she said. “We’re seeing a significant problem with chronic non-payment of rent. We’re a housing-first agency, but even in a housing-first agency we still need to collect rent.”

 

Bouton-Stehle emphasized that Pacifica does everything in its power to make sure evicted tenants can find new housing options with regional housing partners, or have the resources to do so themselves.

 

“The problem is if they’re not paying rent, it’s really hard to find them somewhere to go,” she said. “As far as I know, nowhere is taking tenants for free.”

 

On average, the rent at the Fairfield Hotel is $440 per month, though one person hasn’t paid in two years, and many others are far behind and unable or unwilling to pay.

 

https://www.vicnews....ia-experts-say/

 

Damage from tenant-to-tenant conflicts can also cost Pacifica up to $2,000 per day, and additionally visitors and break-ins can cause property damage. Often people break in to use the shower facilities in the building.

 

In total Pacifica was in the red for $116,000 for the Fairfield Hotel in 2018, despite receiving $500,000 in subsidies from the City of Victoria over a 10-year period. Pacifica will pay back what remains from the grant pro-rated.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 15 November 2019 - 04:01 PM.

[A Girl is No one]

Here’s what Pacifica says in This article:
« “There’s a housing and economic crisis, even among our working tenants,” she said. “We’re seeing a significant problem with chronic non-payment of rent. We’re a housing-first agency, but even in a housing-first agency we still need to collect rent.”« 

Housing crisis? These people are ALREADY in $440 per month rentals.

Economic crisis? Really? In Victoria right now?

It seems that the motus operandi of the SJW of late is to attach the word « crisis » to anything they want more money for. Then all the different actors (all tax payer funded) repeat it and make it a thing.
Orchestrated extortion IMO.

[Victoria Watcher]

welfare rates are $710/mo. ($1081 if you have a disability).  so even those paying $440 should still have $270 left over.  now that's not much but they can nip up to our place for free food.  and for those working even part-time or casually they still get to keep some of their welfare amount.  so i'm not sure how $440/mo. is a problem.  now if word gets around that joe has not paid his rent in 2 years and there have been no repercussions then word travels.  a few more might try short-paying to see what happens.  maybe they just let this all get out of hand.

 

there is some eye-openers here:

 

Stovell said Reliance did not charge Pacifica rent, but did require that it pay administration fees and a share of property taxes, insurance costs, utilities and other expenses totalling about $6,500 a month.

 

He said that since September, Reliance has been covering all those costs to ease Pacifica’s transition.

 

“We have empathy for what Pacifica has encountered with its current tenant population and we continue to support their work with the community, which is why we entered a unique 10-year lease and then made concessions to help them terminate the lease eight years early in pursuit of more suitable housing for tenants,” he said in an email.

 

Stovell said Reliance has been focused on other areas of the building, including reconditioning the ground-floor retail spaces, restoring the heritage facade and putting in new double-glazed windows, hot water tanks and other amenities.

 

“We didn’t really initiate the change,” he said. “Pacifica just found that, even though there was some funding assistance coming from the city and so on, they just can’t make the numbers work to properly take care of those vulnerable residents in that older facility.”

 

Stovell said it’s doubtful the Fairfield’s upper rooms will remain as low-income housing once Pacifica leaves.

“We don’t know how to operate that kind of housing and they’re experts at that — and they can’t make it work,” he said.

 

Pacifica notes that, in addition to the money it pays Reliance, the charity is responsible for staffing, maintenance and utility costs that totalled more than $360,000 last fiscal year.

 

Even with a city subsidy and the money it collects in rent, Pacifica posted a loss last fiscal year of $89,616. “Our financial statements tell the story,” Boulton-Stehle said. “It’s not a viable building and if it was a viable building, I don’t think we would have had this kind of loss.”

 

 

https://www.timescol...ouse-1.24007360

 

perhaps they just let the tenants get right out of hand.  sounds like it.  pacifica was supposed to be taking in about $26k (62x$420) a month in rent and only paying reliance $6500/mo.

 

 

 

The association says it’s unable to support the complex medical and emotional needs of its tenants in an aging building where none of the rooms have kitchens and residents are required to navigate stairs and share four bathrooms.

 

 

As well, Pacifica says it continues to deal with violence and substance-use issues, significant maintenance and staffing costs and chronic non-payment of rent by some of the tenants, who pay $420 a month on average.

 

 

is a lack of kitchens and ensuite bathrooms adding to "complex medical and emotional needs" of the tenants?  god forbid if they had kitchens there would probably be stove fires all the time.  and floods from bathrooms.  would elevators help?  i don't know.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 15 November 2019 - 06:08 PM.

[Mike K.]

What exactly is workforce housing?

[Nparker]

A buzzword for cheaply built housing projects.