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The Housing Crisis
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Ideas & Questions
- Hits: 876
You see it crop up on Facebook - "The Kootenay Housing Crisis", by which they mean there's a shortage of affordable housing for local residents.
This is, of course, complete and utter bullshit. Not the housing crisis, this is real, I've lived out 5 years now, or close enough to, and there is a dearth of available and affordable housing. And what's available is often misrepresented - what initially seems like a good deal is complicated by heating bills - out here that's a big expense, or driving (a must), or a dozen other unanticipated expenses that invariably end up being appended to your rent and cost of living.
But the term "Housing Crisis" - whether it be here or elsewhere - is too often applied to mean that there's a shortage of housing, when the fact of the matter is that there's a failure of governance to create and enforce policies and law that would ensure everyone had access to housing. Policies that would - for example - state that any property that sits vacant is subject to a substantially higher rates of tax than a property that is occupied. Policies that would tax secondary properties at substantially higher rates than primary properties - the fact remains that house prices are largely inflated due to speculation and foreign/absentee owners. And policies that would see properties that sit vacant for extended periods of time (say, for the sake of argument - 3 years) - whether it be because they're for sale or other reasons - can be seized and auctioned by the city or province.
Property - like too many other things - should not be a commodity that can be bought/sold/traded at a profit - it should be used and preserved. We have no problems suing landowners who contaminate their properties with toxic chemicals, we have laws preventing the building of unsafe structures, laws can as well be implemented that ensure everyone has equal opportunities to housing.
Other solutions worth considering: Do away with property ownership entirely, all property is "on lease" from the federal government, much like they do in National Parks. In theory, everyone should be able to afford housing FOR THEIR LIFETIME. Make property uninheritable - you can pass down your principle living residence upon your death, but all secondary residences are auctioned by the government. PROHIBIT FOREIGN OWNERSHIP (This is a no-brainer!) There are more, I'm sure, these are just a few that spring to mind.
Homeless in a Pandemic...
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Blog
- Hits: 745
This, by the way, is not something I'd recommend. And I have wheels.
First, all the live-long day you're trying to get in out of the cold, find someplace warm, charge your phone, computer, what have you. You're paying rent at the cafe's and grateful that the lockdowns haven't gone any further. The shower options - at the rec center - are unavailable, so the whole "get a good-life membership" to clean up is off the table. And the washrooms in the mall - well, there's always a line, and you don't dare take the time to shave or clean up.
Rent, paid instead of to a landlord, is payed in gas, restaurants, cafe's, cigarettes and Vodka because the sun goes down early, and who can sleep from 4:00 PM until 7:00 AM the next day? Vodka, it helps. And this rent, it's winds up costing more than rent paid to landlords - substantially, even out here, and as your finances erode your chances of finding a place or work diminish. It becomes a spiral.
Homelessness was never a great option, but this Pandemic, it's made it impossible.
My own job hunt, meanwhile
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Blog
- Hits: 698
Meanwhile, having found a place to live I'm off to the next step. Find work.
It takes roughly 20 minutes to canvas all the potential restaurants in town. It's not a big town. And - State of the Nation, the Pandemic, the World, none of them are hiring. Most are just trying not to lay off staff. But they'll keep my info on file.
This 2 weeks before Christmas, the busiest time of the year.
One of them has a curious question: "You have a place to live?"
Fortunately I do, and I imagine the question is prompted by the vast number of people that think they can get a job first, then find a place to live later, like it's done anywhere else in the world, only - like most things - it's just not that straightforward out here.
This is it, I expected no less - really - and while CERB will have me covered for a bit - in theory until next spring when the restaurant reopens - I better start searching around in different industries. Restaurants are going to be done for a while, and I need work - if not for the money then for the social interaction; the idyll of writing all winter loses it's luster without interaction with others, the impetus to have something to write about.
So on to the next steps of finding a couple of Volunteer positions and maybe work in another field. Or maybe just stop procrastinating and finish off a few other lucrative projects that seem to have fallen by the wayside.
A Fine Italian Micro-Mosaic Brooch
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Found
- Hits: 934
And, the one treasure I did find in Toronto, a fine Italian double sided micro-mosaic brooch. Circa (approx) 1860-1880. Note the detail - the entire brooch measures perhaps an inch and a half in width; double sided (a rarity), found in a bag for $3.99 at National Thrift:
For a value comparison look here: https://www.1stdibs.com/buy/mosaic-brooch/
Sooo...perhaps next trip to TO will need to rent a car and do a little exploring...
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