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LETTER TO THE EDITOR: City’s rapid development disconnected with housing affordability

Development boom will push home prices and rents beyond local incomes, says letter writer
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Nanaimo’s developer-friendly council further encourages that disconnect between incomes and the cost of buying or renting, says letter writer. (Stock image)

To the editor,

Re: Nanaimo city council approves six-storey building along Terminal Avenue, July 13.

Mayor Leonard Krog claims that “today’s expensive housing may be tomorrow’s moderately priced housing.” In fact the development boom that he and the rest of council wholeheartedly support will push prices and rents beyond local incomes. This council just follows the harmful examples of Vancouver and other development-crazy cities.

That development craze has been documented by experts like UBC’s Patrick Condon. He points out that Vancouver “has added more housing units per capita than any city in North America over the last 30 years, yet housing prices have increased faster in Vancouver than any other North American city.”

Research by Andy Yan of Simon Fraser University shows that approvals for higher-density development inflate property assessments, real estate prices and rents, often beyond what local people can pay.

Nanaimo’s developer-friendly council further encourages that disconnect between incomes and the cost of buying or renting. Nanaimo’s population growth comes largely from affluent newcomers who can afford prices that locals can’t. That benefits the developers who are pushing this housing boom. They have a very compliant council in Krog and company.

Greg Klein, Nanaimo


The views and opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are those of the writer and do not reflect the views of Black Press or the Nanaimo News Bulletin.

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