Are we saying that all development increases costs to the city more than they are taking in with property tax? Surely we would have gone broke long ago.
Victorians invented this premise very recently. And Victorians only accept this premise with regards to the CoV itself. Every Victorian knows that development booms anywhere else are a terrific boon, even in other municipalities in Victoria. Development booms pay dividends. Cities and municipalities live for them. But in Victoria city? A few new condo buildings are busting the city's infrastructure! It's more expensive to have development activity than to not have it!
Just consider how quickly we've flipped on this. Even as late as 2008-2009 there were plenty of Victorians who were still dismissing residential redevelopment in the downtown core. The trend had stalled, it was obviously never going to really catch on anyway, and the few buildings that had been built were mostly empty, blah blah blah blah. But just a few years later we were suddenly claiming that it had been a crippling avalanche of construction, overwhelming physical infrastructure and the city's administrative processes.
Nobody detects an inconsistency there? For a few years we were all sneering because downtown living would surely never catch on and all of the new buildings were empty, but now we're saying downtown living is a sweeping scourge and the hordes of new residents are breaking the CoV's back?
And keep in mind, this is all happening within the confines of the CoV's strict height and development restrictions. A massive wave of overwhelming residential construction... but generally limited to 14 or 15 stories, and generally delayed and dragged out for years. Wow, Victorians sure are lucky their city doesn't allow 30-story buildings to get approved quickly like every other city does, large or small. You wouldn't be able to turn on a light or flush a toilet and the CoV would be dead broke.
Meanwhile, there are still dozens and dozens of parking lots, empty lots, and severely underdeveloped sites throughout the extended downtown area. What we've seen so far has really been the tip of the tip of the iceberg. What we've seen so far compares to what we saw decades ago, when Victoria was half the size it is today. Suffice it to say, if anybody actually believes that new construction is a net loss for the city then your very first mission should be to launch a massive investigation against the CoV re: fundamental negligence and dereliction of duty, because the development potential that still remains is immense. It might finally be time to get that 1860s infrastructure up to par.