Dear editor,
I opened up the Record this morning to see another group of residents practising the time-honored tradition of “NIMBY’ism” that seems to be so in-vogue here in the Comox Valley.
This week it’s the residents of Walbran Drive in east Courtenay who are pushing back against a rental development in their area. Last week it was the residents of Murrelet Place in Comox who are making life miserable for anyone and everyone looking to build rental housing in Comox.
Never mind that the Comox Valley’s vacancy rate is so comedically low prices for rentals in this community rival that of Victoria, nor should we mind that young families, seniors and our at-risk population essentially are left without a roof over their heads.
No, it seems that we all talk a good game when it comes to providing housing for all of our citizens but in reality, we actually don’t mean that. What we mean is that as long as our “perceived” property values continue to skyrocket and that there is no traffic, noise, animals, people, deliveries or augmentation to our daily life we’re totally in agreement with building housing, of course, as long as it’s not “in my backyard.”
So, let’s continue this charade of speaking out of both sides of our mouths on this issue because the proof is in the over the top and stunningly ridiculous push back that seems to happen whenever anybody, anywhere, at any time proposes any sort of development in this community.
One can only conclude by the almost visceral reactions from residents here that we really, really want to want to help people, as long as it doesn’t affect us personally.
Frankly speaking, that’s a pretty sad indictment of our community but fits rather nicely with the perception that we’re the ‘Nomox’ Valley.
Ryan Smith,
Comox
