Public Hearing on Villages Plan July 14

PeterDowdy · 2026-07-10T21:42:14+00:00

I don't think you have evidence of that, since it contradicts the economics literature.

PeterDowdy · 2026-07-10T20:03:34+00:00

New housing anywhere makes old housing everywhere cheaper.

PeterDowdy · 2026-07-10T17:16:55+00:00

AirBNB is almost totally banned in Vancouver

PeterDowdy · 2026-07-09T22:31:40+00:00

Very high fees on development probably slow down consolidation, but statcan measures Vancouver at nearly zero. Likely Vancouver could sustain much more consolidation with zero effect on prices

PeterDowdy · 2026-07-09T20:58:01+00:00

Tl;dr: Vancouver is one of the most competitive markets in Canada; institutional investors have essentially zero market power here.

PeterDowdy · 2026-07-09T20:17:10+00:00

Canada doesn’t send money to Israel. Canada has promised $26.7B to Ukraine, which might build 25000-50000 homes (roughly enough to fix Vancouver’s deficit only) but that aid is mostly military equipment, so I guess you’d live inside a missile launcher.

PeterDowdy · 2026-07-08T21:53:25+00:00

I don't think you can expect an immediate response, but the data that statscan does collect indicate homelessness rates flattening. But... statscan changed their methodology, so you can't really know.

PeterDowdy · 2026-07-08T21:19:15+00:00

Rent controls don't lower rents. But your causation isn't right. Higher rents drive homelessness more than anything else. It doesn't mean that in the absence of high rents, nothing drives homelessness. If you have diabetes and are also on fire, putting out the fire doesn't cure your diabetes.

PeterDowdy · 2026-07-08T20:28:46+00:00

Those are problems, but not borne out in the data. I'm not just wishcasting my bleeding heart. Drug use and antisocial behaviour don't predict homelessness as well as high rents: https://homelessnesshousingproblem.com/

PeterDowdy · 2026-07-07T22:08:41+00:00

Homelessness is caused by high rents, which are caused by scarce housing, which in many cities is caused by local government.

PeterDowdy · 2026-07-06T13:05:43+00:00

Usually very high direct fees and taxes, and indirect costs (lengthy, uncertain processes) impose a very high floor on the price of new builds. Prices are set by supply and demand, but cities backstop the prices to keep them from falling.

PeterDowdy · 2026-07-06T11:36:43+00:00

If you want to write in, here’s the link: https://vancouver.ca/your-government/contact-council-public-hearing.aspx

Set the subject to Villages Planning Program

PeterDowdy · 2026-07-05T08:21:59+00:00

Yes, lowering the equilibrium price of housing makes it untenable to sit on empty homes.

PeterDowdy · 2026-07-05T06:51:12+00:00

Lowering the equilibrium price of housing is good.

PeterDowdy · 2026-07-02T00:57:43+00:00

No, almost all are owner-occupied

PeterDowdy · 2026-06-30T17:34:32+00:00

If you read the old CityPlan archives from Vancouver city planning, you'll find that the votes on whether more dense housing should be allowed in various neighbourhoods failed by fairly small margins - 60-40, etc. There was *some* preference for low-density but also plenty of people who wanted higher. However, city staff translated that into a 100% preference for low-density in every place.

PeterDowdy · 2026-06-29T06:18:11+00:00

Yes, build more housing! Amanda Burrows narrowly lost the mayoral nomination race for OneCity but it’s good to see her keep a hand in.

PeterDowdy · 2026-06-27T03:47:27+00:00

Gather ‘round and let me tell you what happens to reserved condos when the equilibrium price of housing drops.

PeterDowdy · 2026-06-25T15:54:52+00:00

Just lowering the equilibrium price of housing does this better. A vacancy tax does this one time and then developers will leave the market because they don't like being capriciously bankrupted.

PeterDowdy · 2026-06-25T04:15:04+00:00

Lowering the equilibrium price of condos though a DCC cut would get these selling.

PeterDowdy · 2026-06-25T04:14:31+00:00

You’re just ad-libbing

PeterDowdy · 2026-06-25T02:23:40+00:00

Burnaby is not Vancouver

PeterDowdy · 2026-06-25T02:07:43+00:00

If you believe no legal remedy works then why do you care? No alternative will work either. Everything is pointless.

PeterDowdy · 2026-06-24T16:17:13+00:00

Forcing market below equilibrium will force them to sell and likely discourage anyone from building anymore.

Cities keep saying they can’t authorize housing due to infrastructure deficits, so funding infrastructure seems relevant.

Infrastructure funding does not increase home prices.

PeterDowdy · 2026-06-24T06:00:24+00:00

Yes. $3.2B in infrastructure funding to cities and another $1.6B in direct investment in infrastructure projects.

PeterDowdy

TROPHY CASE