1 Million new people

[Annie]

The reason for Translink wanting people to vote Yes is because we'll be getting a million more people??? Really? Where the hell are they gonna live? I thought the roads were bad now...a million more people on the road? I'll go get a link to the story...

[Annie]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/translink-tax-yes-campaign-launched-as-gregor-robertson-takes-lead-1.2912758">http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-c ... -1.2912758">http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/translink-tax-yes-campaign-launched-as-gregor-robertson-takes-lead-1.2912758



Sounds like there's a secondary project at work here with this skytrain tax hike, which come off in our GST each time we pay for anything in a store? This could be good or bad but they're not telling the truth behind the agenda  acc_angry

[Romero]

Yep, Metro Vancouver will definitely have one million more people by 2040. We've grown by one million since 1986.



Where will they live? Condos!



I'm still on the fence regarding the vote. We're really going to need transit and transportation investment, but I'm worried about that money being used as a slush fund from taxpayers to government to big business. The whole Compass Card debacle really pisses me off.



I'm also concerned that this is mainly about developers chomping at the bit for all the potential wealth.



There's no doubt we're going to grow and we need to do something. We do need to prioritize alternative transportation and keep everyone and everything flowing smoothly.

[Annie]

So this year we will be 10 years ahead in people.

[Annie]

Oh joy, can you imagine all the new young drivers on the road? My son can't even drive!

[Berry Sweet]

They'll say anything to get your vote, Annie...but yes all areas are growing at a boatload rate...I tried to leave the gvrd but I cant cause of some asshole but in a few years I can...and I will..im tired of this overpriced fluff city.

[Annie]

It's not easy to find an apartment in the Tri Cities as it is, can you imagine Vancouver? Divide a million people throuout the lower mainland and it's gonna cause more chaos. Our roads aren't up to par for this, and they're just getting transit ready for it with a %5 tax increase on what... everything! But if it doesn't go through they will cut something important to many you watch.  acc_angry

[RW]

P3s FTL

[Berry Sweet]

The inside of those condos are small...it looks nice on the outside...but jamming too many people into tiny dwellings also in one spot is getting ridiculous.  I dont want to be here at that time...not a way to live.

[Annie]

They'll say anything to get your vote, Annie...but yes all areas are growing at a boatload rate...I tried to leave the gvrd but I cant cause of some asshole but in a few years I can...and I will..im tired of this overpriced fluff city.

I hear you, me too, the price of good food is going up  acc_angry  I'm gonna try my best at another little green house in my little yard again  ac_dance

[Berry Sweet]

The price of food is stupid.  I hardly buy meat anymore.

[Romero]

An interesting point of view:

The Decline of Vancouver



Vancouver, once a city with its own unique spin on Canadian ideals and culture, is well on its way to becoming a vacation city for the world's rich, its economy transforming into one predicated almost entirely on catering to their luxurious proclivities, and its citizens transformed into modern serfs permitted to live in smaller dwellings on the city's periphery, if you'll allow me to exaggerate for effect.



The nature of serfdom was one where serfs, unable to acquire their own plot of productive land, worked and lived on the land of wealthy nobles whom they served. It's effectively impossible for average people without seed capital to join in on the boons of the Vancouver property boom, and so their role in the city's largest source of wealth generation, property ownership, becomes catering to those who can take part, selling to them luxury booze, food, cars, clothes, and even their bodies. We have two classes of society forming along a divide that is growingly difficult to cross.



Foreign ownership is, of course, the culprit. Beneficiaries of the property boom, homeowners, developers, and the politicians whom they finance, often claim that foreign ownership isn't actually as big of a problem as we make it out to be.



According to our Immigration Minister "There is little evidence that immigrant investors as a class are maintaining ties to Canada or making a positive economic contribution to the country". Indeed, there is an estimated 300,000 – 400,000 Canadians living in China, the majority of whom are ethnic Chinese.



This is not about race. China happens to be the biggest country in the world and a flight away from our city, and thus represents the greatest influx of foreign buyers in Vancouver, but it is not Chinese people that are the problem. It is about a stream of wealthy elite corroding the vibrancy of Vancouver.



The problem is not just home ownership, but the erosion of communities and the long-term viability of Vancouver's economy. Entire downtown neighbourhoods and chunks of the west side are growingly becoming ghost towns as permanent residents are replaced with investors who don't occupy their units.



And yet we celebrate. Boomers who were lucky enough to buy in the 80s and 90s are millionaires several times over, and they and their children will largely live comfortably. A massive capital injection from abroad makes Vancouverites feel wealthy, while the city is in no real terms wealthier.



http://sofard.tumblr.com/post/113616107456/the-decline-of-vancouver">//http://sofard.tumblr.com/post/113616107456/the-decline-of-vancouver

I love Vancouver, but with all the thousands of new condos apparently only prospering those who already prosper, I often feel that my city has become nothing more than an investment opportunity.



Of course, the same thing is happening worldwide. Are cities no longer for the people who live there? Are the people who live there only servants?



I'm pretty lucky living right downtown in a nice place and great neighbourhood. But I'll never be able to afford to buy a home where I was born.

[Anonymous]

I voted No!  Signed, sealed and delivered!

[Romero]

Vancouver house at 65 E 26th Ave. was originally listed at $1.6M, sold for just under $2.2M



https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/s480x480/10982282_836245989746290_3639264558824467039_n.jpg?oh=106118226e3fe9317618c53beae86dcd&oe=55AE4DC0&__gda__=1437455485_644d1ea18e68ef7ba7ed08a0763697e0">



http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/vancouver-house-sells-for-567k-over-listed-price-1.3012604">//http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/vancouver-house-sells-for-567k-over-listed-price-1.3012604

Um, is that just the entrance for some mansion on several acres of land behind it? Over $2 million! For what?

[Romero]

The price of food is stupid.  I hardly buy meat anymore.

No kidding! We're producing so much more meat yet it's just getting way more expensive.