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The Canadian Housing Boom Fueled by China’s Billionaires

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Re: The Canadian Housing Boom Fueled by China’s Billionaires

#51

Post by serge2k »

dottedmag wrote: post #28
jackcosgrove wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to think you had to live in an "it" city to make it. Then I realized that I could make my life whatever I wanted to be more easily in a less expensive place. The chains were in my head.

Yes, until you have a family. Then suddenly you need a good school nearby (and good luck bringing children to school in car if they have serious case of motion sickness).

> good luck bringing children to school in car if they have serious case of motion sickness

That's maybe the worst excuse I've ever heard.

At least it's the worst for the last... 3 years probably.

Re: The Canadian Housing Boom Fueled by China’s Billionaires

#52

Post by robotresearcher »

Mikeb85 wrote: post #35
Apocryphon wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps Montreal can do the same, if the city finds some way to sidestep the provincial language laws.

Nothing wrong with language laws, people just need to stop being lazy. Learning a second language isn't that hard.

Many, many of the people injecting money into Vancouver already speak a second language just fine. French would be a third at least.

Re: The Canadian Housing Boom Fueled by China’s Billionaires

#53

Post by fleitz »

serge2k wrote: post #47
ido wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't BC vast and mostly empty though? Last I looked purchase prices in Vancouver island (aside from Victoria maybe) were about the same as or lower than rural areas in Germany.

So people should just go live in the woods?

What do you think Vancouver was before we poured bitumen all over it?

Also the idea that people in Yaletown/Gastown should go live in old factories and warehouses seems to have just fine.

Re: The Canadian Housing Boom Fueled by China’s Billionaires

#54

Post by vorg »

jimjimjim wrote: post #39

It's happening to countries all around the pacific rim (well, without being too rude, all the stable countries). Chinese money is land-banking in Vancouver, US north west, Australia, and Auckland in nz. and countries don't dear stop it because it will tank the real-estate bubble too quickly (it'll go before the tech bubble anyway). But if it does it will actually be good for the economies because capital tied up in u…

ex-IT workers who left these places say "My job went to India and my home went to China."

Re: The Canadian Housing Boom Fueled by China’s Billionaires

#56

Post by ido »

serge2k wrote: post #47
ido wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't BC vast and mostly empty though? Last I looked purchase prices in Vancouver island (aside from Victoria maybe) were about the same as or lower than rural areas in Germany.

So people should just go live in the woods?

Not what I meant, was just saying it seem to apply mostly to Vancouver (maybe Victoria, to a much lesser extent) and not BC as a whole.

But that's not how jokes work I guess!

Re: The Canadian Housing Boom Fueled by China’s Billionaires

#57

Post by [deleted] »

dottedmag wrote: post #33

> The 31-year-old paralegal and her husband, an apprentice plumber, live in a two-bedroom, 1,200-square-foot (111-square-meter) apartment They can't afford kids? I have lived in 83-square-meter apartment with my wife and two kids and a I had a friggin' separate home office room to work from home. It wasn't ideal (we have moved when the youngest turned 5, so we wanted to give them separate bedrooms), but it worked pre…

[deleted]

Re: The Canadian Housing Boom Fueled by China’s Billionaires

#58

Post by thirdsun »

flukus wrote: post #36
happyslobro wrote: post #8

I think that the real problem is that so many people are trying to concentrate into the densest areas. That creates huge pressures, which are reflected in the price of space. Take a look at the cities with populations below 100K. You will find lots of people who live great lives, despite not being rich. For those of us who grew up in these little island towns, living in a place like Vancouver is downright depressing,…

Those sorts of cities don't generally have large apartment blocks so you don't get the benefits of density.

So more space for less money? Lack of large apartment blocks or density isn't what I'd call a downside.

Re: The Canadian Housing Boom Fueled by China’s Billionaires

#59

Post by wyclif »

dottedmag wrote: post #33

> The 31-year-old paralegal and her husband, an apprentice plumber, live in a two-bedroom, 1,200-square-foot (111-square-meter) apartment They can't afford kids? I have lived in 83-square-meter apartment with my wife and two kids and a I had a friggin' separate home office room to work from home. It wasn't ideal (we have moved when the youngest turned 5, so we wanted to give them separate bedrooms), but it worked pre…

Isn't the market telling that couple that they should move? I'm not being sarcastic at all.

If you can't afford to live in a city because you're priced out, and you want a different lifestyle as well (signalled by the stated desire for children), why wouldn't you move?

Re: The Canadian Housing Boom Fueled by China’s Billionaires

#60

Post by jonknee »

ido wrote: post #56
serge2k wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So people should just go live in the woods?

Not what I meant, was just saying it seem to apply mostly to Vancouver (maybe Victoria, to a much lesser extent) and not BC as a whole. But that's not how jokes work I guess!

But that's where almost all the people live. BC is a huge place and it's almost all uninhabited.
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