Why on earth are there so many Vancouver specials? If you've seen one you've seen 1000. What does a Vancouver special have to do with our Vancouver’s housing crisis?
If are a Vancouverite and you don’t know who Uytae Lee is, you’re missing out! In this video Uytae breaks Vancouver special, and what it has to do with the Vancouver housing crisis…
“From the 1960s to the 1980s, one specific house was constructed in Vancouver over 10,000 times. Known today as the Vancouver Special, these houses could offer solutions to the current housing crises in cities across Canada. ‘Stories About Here’ explores the urban planning challenges that communities across Canada face today. In each episode we dig into the often overlooked issues in our own backyards - whether it’s the shortage of public bathrooms, sewage leaking into the water, or the bureaucratic roots of the housing crisis. Through it all, we hope to inspire people to become better informed and engaged members of their communities.” CBC Vancouver youtube
Supply and demand. Low supply in high demand drives up price. I've had this conversation with many people, and almost, regardless of how we look at it we have a low supply of housing in Vancouver. This means housing that is available for long-term rent or purchase. They're just simply isn't enough for the demand. And the demand grows every year, but the housing supply seems to lag behind. Vancouver special was a unique solution to this problem 60 years ago but, as Uytae Lee explains, people want a solution, but often don't want to have to change anything about their lives for it to be implemented. Give me wrong! If you are lucky enough to own, or live in a Single family home of course there's a good reason a good argument to not want a 30 story condo building right next door. But refusing the zoning changes, refusing, multifamily homes, is to refuse the very solution. There's so much red tape now to building, rezoning, and densifying that the costs are skyrocketing. On average a Vancouver home almost doubles in price every 10 years for the last 20 years… Thats insane!
I think we all need to help find solutions and suggest to our regulatory bodies to push those forward. We need more homes, we need more non-market housing and we need them faster.
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