A commentary by a former View Royal mayor who owns a business in Victoria.
I have been reading with interest in the past few weeks much about development in Greater Victoria.
It is a strange phenomenon that so many who are secure in their own homes seem to feel it is their prerogative to actively discourage or even refuse any new homes being built for others. Every home in our region has been a development at some time.
The common themes are complaints about additional traffic and increased density. And yet we continue to develop to our west and north and that development is actually producing far more traffic than if we were to densify in appropriate places within the core.
And, of course, it is leading to urban sprawl in every sense of the word. We must collectively work to find solutions to these problems.
While many residents understandably focus on their neighbourhoods, we must look beyond that as these decisions impact our entire region, and by extension all of us.
We are in the midst of a housing crisis and we are also in the midst of a crisis in attracting workers and professionals largely because many cannot afford to live here or they simply can’t find accommodation.
For most of us, our children can simply not consider buying a home in the region and with a rental vacancy rate of one per cent that is equally difficult.
In Douglas magazine last week the executive director of the Greater Victoria Housing Society is quoted as saying: “We can’t function as a community if we can’t attract the talent we need, the workers we need. It’s important for the public to understand that we need to build a lot more supply.”
As a local business owner I can attest to the truth of this statement. Finding staff is close to impossible now for local businesses and we see the effects of this daily with local establishments reducing their hours or even closing.
Don’t get me wrong. I love Greater Victoria and I have no desire to see rampant overdevelopment.
But I had a hard time in the recent election campaign understanding the owners of single-family homes that thought townhouses or duplexes on their streets were a terrible threat to the character of their neighbourhoods.
I had an even harder time understanding those that had moved into their newly constructed homes only to turn around and say no more development should be allowed.
And I still can’t understand why so many appear to be against carriage houses on large lots. It seems to me that all of these are a must in the years to come if we are serious about tacking this housing crisis, not to mention the climate crisis.
I understand the concerns that many existing homeowners or residents may have. I am not a fan of blanket rezonings and I feel it is essential that residents have a say in developments happening close to their homes.
Over the years I have seen so many projects refined and improved through the public hearing process.
But the flip side of that is that existing homeowners and residents must be open to change. Neighbourhoods and communities must evolve, they cannot remain a snapshot in time.
It is essential that we come to terms with the idea of quality infill housing throughout our region and that we accept the fact that our major corridors have to be densified.
If we are serious about making housing more attainable and also serious about having the province invest in transportation infrastructure in this region both of these things have to happen.
We must find a balance where we protect the features that make our region such an amazing place to live but we must also work collectively to ensure our region remains a vibrant and inclusive place to call home.
