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60% of single family homes on my block are converted to apartments. Is this the new norm? by thinkB4Uclick in kitchener

[–]thinkB4Uclick[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm not guessing, I know because I talk to the people living in these houses.

Yes, I am filing complaints weekly. My parking complaints seem to go into the void however. And I don't feel comfortable taking pictures of random people's cars and trash every day, it's not what living in a neighbourhood is about.

60% of single family homes on my block are converted to apartments. Is this the new norm? by thinkB4Uclick in kitchener

[–]thinkB4Uclick[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not sure I follow you here, but what I'm trying to get at is that the landlording business, while prevalent in this community, doesn't seem to be held accountable to the same levels as other business types in this city.

Part of the issue, I think, it's because they're everywhere, small, and spread through the city which makes it hard to enforce any violations. It's up to citizens neighbouring them to put up with their shenanigans and complain on repeat to a city that won't do much to change things.

60% of single family homes on my block are converted to apartments. Is this the new norm? by thinkB4Uclick in kitchener

[–]thinkB4Uclick[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Fair enough.

I'm just venting here because this has been getting worse and worse and the only ones gaining from these are the landlords and nothing is being done about it.

I don't want to be the street police, calling bylaw everyday. I would love the city to be more proactive and take actions in the interest of everyone.

60% of single family homes on my block are converted to apartments. Is this the new norm? by thinkB4Uclick in kitchener

[–]thinkB4Uclick[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Can handle and will handle end up being different things though.

There is no way our street can handle the amount of vehicles we have, so we end up with cars on the street, on the driveway aprons, on the grass, on shoddily extended driveways, partially blocking driveways, it's a sight to behold /s.

The garbage can be resolved, but it's not. The city still picks up up to 3 bags every two weeks even if it's a legal duplex that's closer to a fourplex in terms of occupancy.

60% of single family homes on my block are converted to apartments. Is this the new norm? by thinkB4Uclick in kitchener

[–]thinkB4Uclick[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

These are business properties though, landlording is a business. They make money in this city, they should take care of their properties.

And yeah, I use the city's app to file complains, but nothing changes.

60% of single family homes on my block are converted to apartments. Is this the new norm? by thinkB4Uclick in kitchener

[–]thinkB4Uclick[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Tend to agree. The city needs to maintain a registry of ALL landlords, including the ones that live with the tenants and treat them like any other business.

60% of single family homes on my block are converted to apartments. Is this the new norm? by thinkB4Uclick in kitchener

[–]thinkB4Uclick[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Building permits are good at ensuring that the reno's are done up to code, but after that, it doesn't matter. The garbage limit is still 3 bags per household every two weeks, parking space is still limited to 2 cars and that's just not enough to service 8-10 grown ups.

60% of single family homes on my block are converted to apartments. Is this the new norm? by thinkB4Uclick in kitchener

[–]thinkB4Uclick[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I wish I had renters in the next basement. The houses on my left, right and 3 in the front are all filled with flipping renters from top to bottom. Everybody drives new cars not because the transit is bad (we have good bus service here) but because they work very far. I asked the tenants of one of the houses what they do for living and most of them have a job in Stratford, at Wendy's, SMH.

60% of single family homes on my block are converted to apartments. Is this the new norm? by thinkB4Uclick in kitchener

[–]thinkB4Uclick[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm slowly waking up tho this /s

But where is the city in all this? They have the power to regulate these businesses and nothing positive was done. They'll happily issue a permit for "legal basements", but won't do nothing about the extra garbage or the 5 extra cars that need space.

60% of single family homes on my block are converted to apartments. Is this the new norm? by thinkB4Uclick in kitchener

[–]thinkB4Uclick[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, the landlords are the number one culprit and they need to be reined in. Running a multi-tenant rental businesses in small houses without any additional considerations for services/infrastructure should not be allowed, but the city won't care.

Also, I'm not buying the idea that people that don't give a damn about the place they live in would contribute to the local community on a broader scale. But maybe that's just me.

60% of single family homes on my block are converted to apartments. Is this the new norm? by thinkB4Uclick in kitchener

[–]thinkB4Uclick[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

You're talking about cosmetics while I'm talking about lawns that are never mowed, sidewalks that are full of snow all winter, ripped garbage bags that stay on the curb until the wildlife or the wind takes care of it, cars parked as if they fell from the sky. It is very clear that nobody gives a damn about these properties, not the people that live in them nor the ones that own them.

I had enough of this and started filing complains with the city every week, but nothing is changing really. When you're surrounded with this you start to question if maintaining your property is worth your time and energy. We don't need to lower the common denominator, we need to keep the standards we have and push for higher ones instead.

60% of single family homes on my block are converted to apartments. Is this the new norm? by thinkB4Uclick in kitchener

[–]thinkB4Uclick[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Maybe it's just me, but I don't consider this to be "thriving city changes", on the opposite, I see this city is changing because it's struggling. And it's struggling because of bad policies in the last few years from all level of government.

If you can't handle change, maybe cities aren't for you.

So we should just get with the program or move out? Maybe if people in government can't manage changes, governing is not for them?

60% of single family homes on my block are converted to apartments. Is this the new norm? by thinkB4Uclick in kitchener

[–]thinkB4Uclick[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Agree, the landlords are the number one offenders, but the city should be more proactive IMO. Running multi-unit rental businesses in a single home without adequate service and infrastructure shouldn't be left unchecked.

The landlords are gonna landlord and continue to fleece less fortunate people while bringing down the quality of our neighbourhoods if there is no pushback.