It is among the necessities of life. We all need to eat, breath and, given our climate these days, we all need four walls and a roof to keep us separated from the elements.From our ancestral caves to the modern-day mansions we see dotting our waterfronts, our kind has always sought a comfortable place to live.Only problem is, the price of a cave has been going up in the area for some time.Now, as DCCs are going up and our valley is becoming a more popular place to put your suitcase, we are struggling to provide accommodation for a wide-variety of the population.A lot of people scoff when we start to mention affordable housing and people in other cities have taken the ‘Not in My Back Yard’ stance. But as Ladysmith Coun. Steve Arnett pointed out at a recent meeting, there is a difference between affordable housing and the stigma attached and housing that is affordable.People going through rough patches in life deserve a comfortable reasonable place to live, but we also need to be focussing on rejuvenating the population by drawing in young families. Young families add to the tax base, usually, put kids in the school system and buy groceries at our shops.There will always be a market for large grand homes with stunning views of our harbour, but we need to make sure we are accommodating people who are looking to take the first step into the housing market.We also need to be making sure we approach this from a regional level and determine if there needs to be a price to try and hit.Let us know what you think is an affordable house in the Cowichan Valley by e-mailing editor@ladysmithchronicle.com or comment at www.ladysmithchronicle.com.— The Chronicle
