Re: Compact living doesn’t shrink quality of life (Mayor’s Message, July 6)
I find Lisa Helps message quite revealing. She seeks to replace the label NIMBY with the label drawbridge mentality.
The use of any label against the opposition for the mayor’s acceptance of aggressive development demonstrates the lack of any solid evidence of increasing housing options for families with annual income below $75,000.
The majority of condominiums that are approved by Victoria council are luxury. Attractive historic neighborhoods are sought for redevelopment under the false pretense of creating affordability. But, the true reason these neighborhoods are sought for redevelopment is because they are the most easily salable and hugely profitable.
City council awards a developer a huge increase in buildable space without charging a density bonus. The loud voices of developers, real estate agents and ancillary businesses that capitalize on housing prices overwhelm the voices of ordinary residents. Prices climb. Long-time renters are evicted. The younger generation of modest income is promised “pie in the sky” in 50 years, counting on tomorrow, always tomorrow. Jam tomorrow.
Let’s find the name for the mentality that seems to determine our City’s land-use decisions. How about: “We have done it for a long time, it did not work, let’s do it again!”
Anything promised by political demagogues to happen tomorrow or in the remote and ever-delayed future might never happen. We need creative politicians who will find a believable solution to the housing crisis now.
Anna Cal
Victoria
