The loss of even a single unit of affordable housing is tragic, and last night Kitchener council voted to demolish two properties so a funeral home could expand its business. I know it doesn’t sound like much, two properties, but it means everything to the families who live there. They are paying affordable rents and now have to upend their lives during a devastating housing crisis where rents are astronomical and ownership is out of reach for most.
In Germany I have seen parking lots with “risers” or “elevator platforms”. Generally, smaller cars drive into the platform, owner hits a button and the car rises to allow another car underneath. They simply don’t have expansion room and are forced to seek alternatives.
However, as it is so easy to get a drivers license in Canada ( there are some terrible drivers out there) it may be asking too much. Another option could have been a cement second floor. But Likely $$$ came into equation since they own the land already. $$$$ trumps compassion.
Being a real estate agent and experiencing this first hand with clients and my own daughter, its heart breaking. What you don't see is the stress, strain, worry, freaking out of the tenants as they struggle to find another place they can afford that's not a dive. They know they will be poorer than they are now, or less able to save the money to buy their own place. This is not a place anyone would want to be in, to have your life in the hands of someone else's whim and desires. I'm lost for words.
We are merely sentient bank accounts, our existence as entities begins and ends at the bank account and never strays outside of this narrowly defined railway commonly referred to as "life".
Why are we tearing down affordable housing for parking spots?
In Germany I have seen parking lots with “risers” or “elevator platforms”. Generally, smaller cars drive into the platform, owner hits a button and the car rises to allow another car underneath. They simply don’t have expansion room and are forced to seek alternatives.
However, as it is so easy to get a drivers license in Canada ( there are some terrible drivers out there) it may be asking too much. Another option could have been a cement second floor. But Likely $$$ came into equation since they own the land already. $$$$ trumps compassion.
Tragic & Ironic, that. living ppl have to suffer so a funeral home can have more parking spots.
Being a real estate agent and experiencing this first hand with clients and my own daughter, its heart breaking. What you don't see is the stress, strain, worry, freaking out of the tenants as they struggle to find another place they can afford that's not a dive. They know they will be poorer than they are now, or less able to save the money to buy their own place. This is not a place anyone would want to be in, to have your life in the hands of someone else's whim and desires. I'm lost for words.
We are merely sentient bank accounts, our existence as entities begins and ends at the bank account and never strays outside of this narrowly defined railway commonly referred to as "life".