[Tauntenue]

Sorry, that was meant to sound like Galadriel.

So the paper is doing this big article on housing prices in Vancouver. http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/n...ff06a1&k=14891 Here's the important bit, "The measure for a detached bungalow in Greater Vancouver was 68 per cent, far above second-place Toronto, where it takes just 43 per cent of pre-tax income to service ownership costs."

They wanted comments and feedback, so I wrote in.

Still trying to figure out that riddle in Langley where the average condo goes for 5 times my reasonably decent gross salary. Gone are the days of 1986 where my mom bought our 8-bedroom house in North Vancouver for about 1.5 times her gross salary. Did I mention we do very similar work? If I wanted to buy back my childhood home 21 years later, I'd have to convince a very generous bank that I'm able to afford 12 times my annual gross salary.

So I turn my attention to condos in Langley, perhaps looking as closely as the one I'm currently renting for $950. "You'll pay less once you own it!" the elders around me insist. Well, I finally looked into that and found that my monthly payment (after shelling out a sizeable down payment which does not presently exist in my bank account) would be $1500+. Yeah, I could swing it, but $550 cuts somewhat deeply into monthly expenses when I already take the bus to and from work each day. And I'm aware that the appreciation of the condo eventually makes up for the monthly cost, but that's a process that takes years; years of Kraft Dinner and transit in the rain.

Not that I would want to drive through Langley, land of sprawling housing developments. For every 3 detached houses they tear down, they're putting up 60-unit condos. Those 3 detached houses were probably home to 5 or maybe 6 vehicles. Now, in the same amount of space, a 60-unit condo could likely be home to 90 vehicles. And now I see plywood across the windows of the next 3 detached homes. I realize our population is booming, but I'm not sure endless 60-unit condos down formerly cute side-streets is the answer. Good luck to the neighbourhood kids who would attempt a game of road hockey on these side-streets turned super-highways.

I don't know what I'll do, but I do know I'll have to own and operate a tonne of 6/49 kiosks if I want to wield the same kind of buying power my mom once enjoyed.

The ending about the 6/49 kiosks is an inside joke for the locals, as several 6/49 (lottery) dealers have been accused of cheating people out of winning tickets.

[sirmzereigMix]

You need to write a book. Your writing about random subjects is very entertaining to read, which is a rare talent to have! [thumbup]

[Imihooniump]

Not good, one of my lifelong goals was to live in Vancouver for a while.