To the editor,
Re: Nanaimo needs to retain its laid-back lifestyle, Jan. 11.
In response to the letter about keeping Nanaimo’s laid-back lifestyle, I’m afraid it’s a bit late as Nanaimo has been a bedroom community for Vancouver for quite some time. Has anyone checked Nanaimo’s population count lately? It has been steadily rising since 1951 and, as of 2014, our population stood at 88,900.
- LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Nanaimo needs to retain its laid-back lifestyle
Add to that the huge increases in houses being built, cars on the road, traffic lights etc., and at times I feel as if I’m actually driving in Vancouver. If you ever get caught up in traffic when people are dashing to the ferry in the morning, or when the ferry comes in in the early evening, you’ll have an idea of how it feels.
I live just under five kilometres from the Departure Bay terminal on a small street where you used to be able to buy a nice house for around the $300,000 or less mark. During the past year, several houses were sold for a great deal more than that and our latest tax assessment has also increased considerably.
Yes, we do need lower cost housing, especially for seniors and the less fortunate in our community, but as for keeping that laid-back lifestyle, I’m afraid most of it disappeared quite some time ago.
Diana Walker, Nanaimo
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