Vancouver BC. My home town, becoming impossible to afford anything.

I lived in Vancouver BC for the first 15 years of my life. I moved away not by choice. When I lived there, I lived in a neighborhood that was full of new families. A lower income neighborhood, but a safe one. I'm a die-hard Canucks fan. I used to love the city.
As I've grown older, I've noticed the cost of everything go up. From food, rent and entertainment, to taxes, gas, and electricity... And much more of course.
On the news tonight, there was a story about some politician in the lower mainland who suggested that all bridges, including ones that have long since been paid for, be tolled. Not only do people in Vancouver have to deal with the unfathomable cost of housing, (for an example, a broken, burnt down home on a small piece of property sold for 2 million recently) but they have to deal with the insane taxes they have to fork out now as well. This alone causing some people to loose their homes.
And to top it off, Vancouver city councillors just approved a 14% raise for themselves, including 2% change and increase in their benefits.
I am so done with these greedy people.
There needs to be a revolution. People who benefit by taking advantage of everybody else need to be dealt with. There should be laws that prevent wage increases for government without public input.
Their wages should be a direct reflection on how well they govern our cities. Frustration!!!!!!

End of rant...

a reply to: drz400

Here's a start, boycott realtors.

a reply to: drz400

Don't feel bad, we are going through the same thing in the United States.

There are millions of Americans that are on a fixed income and cannot afford their prescriptions, or go hungry.

The cost of living has risen every year and most American's wages cannot keep up with the high cost of living.

Our Congress has granted themselves rises because they cannot live on a $150,000 a year. Greedy Pigs!

Most of our Congress have other professions on top of their Congressional salaries, So I am sure they are raking in over $250,000 a year and that's not enough for them to live on.

We Americans are being tax to death here and our economy sucks. We produces very little in the United States most of our food is imported, our clothes are imported, furniture is imported,

Half of our work force is imported or outsourced, most of our government is completely corrupt and do not answer to the people. Wait a minute, this sounds like the British Government!

I fell your pain, been up in whistler for 14 years now, nearly impossible to afford living here, but man the view is worth it .

Yeah, thanks China..

I spent 5 years in Van..gonna move back when I strike it rich.

a reply to: Informer1958

Our Congress has granted themselves rises because they cannot live on a $150,000 a year. Greedy Pigs!

I can't think of another profession that can grant themselves raises. I don't know how elected officials get away with this. It's clearly a conflict of interest. The same thing goes for them voting against campaign finance reform!

The local, state and federal government continue to tax us into poverty!!! My property taxes have doubled since I purchased our house 21 years ago! The cost of services and utilities increase year after year! Yet these same representatives spend millions and trillions of tax dollars on military projects, foreign aid, wasteful government projects and high salaries that do nothing to help their constituents. Yet they're quick to cut programs that actually do benefit their constituents.

a reply to: WeRpeons

I can't think of another profession that can grant themselves raises. I don't know how elected officials get away with this. It's clearly a conflict of interest. The same thing goes for them voting against campaign finance reform!

I agree.

The answer to all this is our government does not serve We The People. The government has demonstrated daily that it serves the elite.

It's all about money, the government ideas is, whats in it for me? How much money can I make while in office.

Notice that 3/4th of our Congress are millionaires and many leave their seat in office as millionaires when their term is up.

It's about inside Trading, and back room deals which I might add is illegal. So many special interests deals $$$

If you want to become a millionaire, become a corrupt politician, because the system is now set up that way. I have never met an honest politician in my 57 years of living.

The methadone's still free. When that program folds you will see a mass exodus south.

Vancouver was a great place to grow up in if you were born in 1946.....
It went downhill fast after that....

originally posted by: drz400
I lived in Vancouver BC for the first 15 years of my life. I moved away not by choice. When I lived there, I lived in a neighborhood that was full of new families. A lower income neighborhood, but a safe one. I'm a die-hard Canucks fan. I used to love the city.
As I've grown older, I've noticed the cost of everything go up. From food, rent and entertainment, to taxes, gas, and electricity... And much more of course.
On the news tonight, there was a story about some politician in the lower mainland who suggested that all bridges, including ones that have long since been paid for, be tolled. Not only do people in Vancouver have to deal with the unfathomable cost of housing, (for an example, a broken, burnt down home on a small piece of property sold for 2 million recently) but they have to deal with the insane taxes they have to fork out now as well. This alone causing some people to loose their homes.
And to top it off, Vancouver city councillors just approved a 14% raise for themselves, including 2% change and increase in their benefits.
I am so done with these greedy people.
There needs to be a revolution. People who benefit by taking advantage of everybody else need to be dealt with. There should be laws that prevent wage increases for government without public input.
Their wages should be a direct reflection on how well they govern our cities. Frustration!!!!!!

End of rant...

I live just outside Vancouver. They're currently gentrifying my neighborhood, if you've seen the latest season of south park, its exactly like that. The whole foods opened in February...the rest is coming soon Along with, at last count, 7 new high rise apartments which, if anything like the rest of the high rises around here, will sit half empty because they're owned by people in China.

They're also built fairly shoddily, I've known construction workers that have worked on lots of projects in Vancouver who laughed about how #ty the job was and how they would do things like install insulation for an inspection then just move it to the next building for the inspection. Developers in the Lower Mainland drive me crazy they're destroying the city and it's sad because there's a lot of potential for really well thought out, sustainable development in the city. They could create proper miniature communities within the city. Instead its the same cookie cutter bull#, throw in a yoga studio and a starbucks and call it a community.

Sorry for the rant but it really does bother me.

originally posted by: drz400
I lived in Vancouver BC for the first 15 years of my life. I moved away not by choice. When I lived there, I lived in a neighborhood that was full of new families. A lower income neighborhood, but a safe one. I'm a die-hard Canucks fan. I used to love the city.
As I've grown older, I've noticed the cost of everything go up. From food, rent and entertainment, to taxes, gas, and electricity... And much more of course.
On the news tonight, there was a story about some politician in the lower mainland who suggested that all bridges, including ones that have long since been paid for, be tolled. Not only do people in Vancouver have to deal with the unfathomable cost of housing, (for an example, a broken, burnt down home on a small piece of property sold for 2 million recently) but they have to deal with the insane taxes they have to fork out now as well. This alone causing some people to loose their homes.
And to top it off, Vancouver city councillors just approved a 14% raise for themselves, including 2% change and increase in their benefits.
I am so done with these greedy people.
There needs to be a revolution. People who benefit by taking advantage of everybody else need to be dealt with. There should be laws that prevent wage increases for government without public input.
Their wages should be a direct reflection on how well they govern our cities. Frustration!!!!!!

End of rant...

I know what your saying, where I am (not in Canada) I don't hear anything about the inflation rate any more. I think the govt and their media partners have simply deleted publishing the quarterly and annual inflation rates now. I wonder why they would do that?

Something is wrong all round the world but I just don't know what it is exactly. I know that all western countries seem to be sliding in the dark abyss of tyranny. I for one, live in fear of what the future holds and things are much better here than in the US and Europe.

originally posted by: drz400
I lived in Vancouver BC for the first 15 years of my life. I moved away not by choice. When I lived there, I lived in a neighborhood that was full of new families. A lower income neighborhood, but a safe one. I'm a die-hard Canucks fan. I used to love the city.
As I've grown older, I've noticed the cost of everything go up. From food, rent and entertainment, to taxes, gas, and electricity... And much more of course.
On the news tonight, there was a story about some politician in the lower mainland who suggested that all bridges, including ones that have long since been paid for, be tolled. Not only do people in Vancouver have to deal with the unfathomable cost of housing, (for an example, a broken, burnt down home on a small piece of property sold for 2 million recently) but they have to deal with the insane taxes they have to fork out now as well. This alone causing some people to loose their homes.
And to top it off, Vancouver city councillors just approved a 14% raise for themselves, including 2% change and increase in their benefits.
I am so done with these greedy people.
There needs to be a revolution. People who benefit by taking advantage of everybody else need to be dealt with. There should be laws that prevent wage increases for government without public input.
Their wages should be a direct reflection on how well they govern our cities. Frustration!!!!!!

End of rant...

Blame it on the huge amount of money who was brought in the 90's then the dirty money that is being laundered by russian and chinese mafia. The same situation is in Toronto. A great part of the apartments in the new condos at Toronto's downtown are owned by russians and chinese who don't even live in Canada. Only now they've started to admit that the real estate unrealistic price hike was due to that speculation. Vancouver is not the only city. Toronto is following the same path and the cost of living is becoming unbearable.

a reply to: drz400
Indeed, Vancouver is the place to go to bleed money and have nothing to show for it. Big money attracts big corruption, as they say.

Many of the new buildings are owned by foreign companies and millionaires, particularly Chinese. This creates an artificial housing scarcity and drives prices skyrocketing, meaning the very symptom strengthens the problem causing it. I would not doubt they bribe local politicians too.

a reply to: drz400

I feel for your cost of living problem.I live in South Africa and although with our MickeyMouse currency its a cheap holiday for tourists,the cost of living is brutal for locals.Most people here,regular folks,not rich people,who still manage to live comfortably, do so through credit cards and store accounts.