How To Start Strengthening Your Town With Incremental Development
Will Gardner May 6, 2024
"...And incremental doesn’t have to mean slow. Incremental growth is potentially the fastest way to grow housing stock, revitalize downtown areas and fill town coffers. Large greenfield projects, despite their promise of hundreds or thousands of housing units, take years of work to come to fruition — usually with large political fights along the way. These are large, often long-shot bets that may not come through... Conversely, small infill projects can be initiated in a matter of weeks and months. As these projects happen, they attract further attention and resources to the town and create momentum for growth..."
Small infill includes accessory dwelling units, too - so called "granny flats" and remodeled garages or outbuildings. These could easily create a lot of new affordable housing.
Housing isn't meant to be affordable
Michel Durand-Wood April 25, 2024
"...According to data from the US Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, indexed home prices in the US are 88.1% higher than they were in 2005, near the peak of the “housing bubble,” making it the second highest of the G7 countries. [Literature fans will recognize that as “foreshadowing.”]
...Turns out that a return to Victorian-era practices of locking out an entire class of people from land ownership tends to lead to civil unrest and revolt...
...We’re screwed if housing prices keep going up. We’re also screwed if they go down. That’s the trap..."
This is literal doom, but I actually find it mildly encouraging that our security and government services are being told the truth about the current state of the nation, society, and world. This is the kind of report that every single politician needs to not only read but reallyunderstand.
Quotes below:
"The situation will probably deteriorate further in the next five years, as the early effects of climate change and a global recession add their weight to the ongoing crises"
"accelerate the decline in living standards that the younger generations have already witnessed compared to earlier generations"
"the difference between the extremes of wealth is greater now in developed countries than it has been at any time in several generations"
"Law enforcement should expect continuing social and political polarization fueled by misinformation campaigns and an increasing mistrust for all democratic institutions"
"Access to [big data] will allow private entities to develop the means to exercise undue influence over individuals and populations at an unprecedented level"
"In the wake of COVID-19, Canada's governments have normalized operating during a respiratory pandemic... the damage to the economy and to the social fabric of the nation is ongoing"
This is it... I think this might be the day we truly cut the cord. Currently looking at removing our Cable (Optik) TV, Home Phone, and “Security" (CCTV) plan and just have Internet from Telus. We came close a couple years ago but still wanted to keep the home phone. At this point though, we're both annoyed at all of them and have better lower cost options. (For Sports I'm just going to subscribe directly to Sportsnet)
So with the contracts we were still in (Optik TV and Home Security) it would have been almost $400 to cancel immediately. So we only cancelled the TV ($10/mo for 12 months left) and Home Phone ($0) and got him to reduce the cost of the home security to below the amount of the cost of cancelling ($8/mo vs $10/mo for 24 months left).
Cancelling the Home phone which is the cheapest.. is honestly the biggest mind bender. We have always had a landline, and growing up here, it had an old number. 😂
Short-term rentals and property speculation are driving rent increases in cities across the globe, but Vienna has found a different path. This city, renowned for its livability, offers tenants rents a fraction of those in Paris, London, or Dublin, thanks to a unique housing policy that prioritizes affordability.
If you would like to make your blood boil, do a comparison, here are prepaid plans in Spain from one of their major telecommunications companies, Vodaphone, compared to Telus
It costs 10£ ($CAD15/mo) for 50GB plus roaming in Europe and the USA.
The top plan is 160GB for 30£ ($44)
Imagine!!