History, inequalities and floor space: Breaking down BC's housing policy

When you live through something, it’s sometimes hard to understand the totality of change when you’re seeing it every day. We’re experiencing that right now with housing in BC as the province radically reshapes what and where housing can be built. 

I stumbled upon this great analysis by the Sightline Institute, which has put together a comprehensive breakdown of the rapidly changing housing policies brought in by the BC government last year. 

One section that stood out to me was how the opposition was historically framed by those opposed to new housing or development. Have a read: 

• “The system may have reached its apogee in the year 2000 when Kerrisdale resident Pamela Sauder uttered her now-infamous opposition to a transit line: ‘We are dentists, doctors, lawyers, professionals, CEOs of companies,’ she said, explaining why the area was unsuited to public transportation. ‘We are the crème de la crème in Vancouver.’ Sauder and her fellow opponents of the proposed ‘Arbutus Line’ won that fight, and the city routed both the transit line and accompanying new homes well to the east of Kerrisdale, along Cambie Street. The dam held.”

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