City tackling housing issue

Vancouver mayor says many initiatives underway to encourage rental units

Re: Edi tor ials and op- eds on Vancouver and af ford able housing It’s great to see The Sun express concern about the crisis of afford able housing in Vancouver. And when it calls on gov ern ments to take ac tion be cause we can’t count on an un fettered mar ket to solve the prob lem, I couldn’t agree more.

How ever, they appear to have overlooked the fact that Vancouver’s municipal government has already taken significant steps.

The city’s Rental 100 Program stimulates the construction of rental units through in cen tives like re duced parking and expedited permitting. It’s fuelled a rental housing construction boom, with over 1,000 units ap proved each year since 2012. That’s a huge im prove ment over 2008, when no rent al units were built. These units create more options for middle- class and young fam ilies to live in the city.

Vancouver is pursuing creative housing options that reflect the character of the neighbour hoods we love. We’re enabling lane way homes across the city, making it easier to build secondary suites, promoting low- rise townhouses and adding more rental units along transit corridors like Cambie.

New community plans in neigh bourhoods like Marpole, the West End and the Downtown Eastside are driven by the urgent need to meet the af ford ability challenge. We’re preparing for the long term with plans that reduce property speculation and build the hous ing we need to day, and our children need tomorrow.

Many cities are facing this afford ability crunch, but in most other coun tries, national gov ern ments are in vesting in solutions. That’s not the case in Canada; let’s hope The Vancouver Sun keeps pressing our federal government to take action, as we have in Vancouver.