Transit must be better than the car
Re: Transit in ‘crisis’ mode, News, Feb. 23, 2011.
Across B.C. we are always hearing about the need to either increase transit fares or property taxes to pay for effective service.
However, we do not tackle the problem which is urban sprawl and the need to service riders farther and farther away from city centers. We need to build compact communities where we can choose to walk or use transit.
Transit authorities could significantly reduce their operating costs, or at least curtail any increases, if they were not always trying to catch up to another subdivision. It’s our tax dollars at stake. Do we want to invest them in more roads? We need to invest in increasing our productivity.
The province needs to make transit a viable choice by making it more convenient and faster than the automobile. More specifically, most people would rather be stuck in traffic in their own vehicles than on a bus. If you are going nowhere than you might as well be in your own car.
Rapid-transit buses or train lines need a critical level of density to achieve ridership volumes to make them viable.
This could be encouraged by amending the provincial property purchase tax (land-transfer tax) to stimulate the construction of high-density and medium-density housing along the Douglas Street corridor and other corridors province-wide, with an additional exemption based on the proximity to a rapid bus or rail line. This will encourage the required density along these lines.
Also, the Canadian Association of Retired People agrees with such proposals as they are also advocating age-friendly cities.
Avi Ickovich
Langford
Detached suites help seniors age at home
Re: Helping seniors age in place, News, Feb. 18, 2011.
My husband and I hope to be part of the Metchosin community in the near future.
We fully support detached suites in Metchosin for this exact reason. Our plan is to own some property, at least three to five acres, on which we want to build a small house on for our aging parents so they will have someone to help them as they get older and are unable to care for themselves.
My mother-in-law loves gardening as do I, but it is starting to get difficult for her to do the labour work involved. If we were able to have this kind of setup, I could help her, and we could create a landscape together.
So my vote is to allow detached suites in Metchosin. I’m sure the majority of people want this for their aging parents only, as I would not want to buy a few acres and then have someone I don’t know living in a house next to me.
I want privacy, and I want my parents to have a comfortable place where they can feel safe and have assistance when they need it.
If Metchosin does not allow this, then we may have to look elsewhere.
Karla Swagar
Langford
