MARK MARISSEN | JANUARY 13 2022
Healthy cities require a strong middle class. Unfortunately for us, Vancouver is well on its way to becoming a city for the very rich and the very poor.
If, like me, you want Vancouver to be a home for middle-class families, it’s past the time for us to take urgent action.
Most younger Vancouver families can only hope to own a home if they have asset-rich parents. And, when looking for a place to rent, they’ve got very few options that provide them with any kind of long-term security.
They’re not the only ones who feel defeated.
Most of our essential workers—our nurses, firefighters, paramedics, police officers, our kids’ teachers—have given up on the dream of owning or renting a home in our city, and are moving further and further away from the people they support, in search of affordability.
So many of the people who were once the heart and soul of our neighbourhoods are now stuck in their cars, driving in from the suburbs, with no choice but to pollute everyone’s air, forcing us to build longer and longer highways that all of us have to pay for, challenging everyone’s quality of life.
It doesn’t have to be this way.