[AlanE]

Originally Posted by strider3700

I fully agree although I am a supporter of leaving that farmland farmland.

I'm fine with that so long as people don't buy these "civic improvements" on someone else's dime. Are you in favor of part of your property taxes going to the farm owner as an annual stipend to compensate him for his property value being lowered as a direct result of the arbitrary limitation on his rights to develop his property. This must really burn the people who live on the boundary out there is Saanich - right across the street from them are properties that, at one time, used to be just like theirs, but now those properties are worth boo koo bucks because they can be developed to high density while only 30 feet across the street the property must stay agricultural. The desire for rural ambiance shouldn't come at the cost of the property owner who has his property rights diminished for the benefit of the city dwellers, most of whom are living on land that also used to be agricultural at one time.

Secondly, by taking this land out of the market, the cost of land that can be developed sky rockets. This makes housing costs go up. There have been studies which detailed all the costs associated with zoning and they've tallied up to about 40-50% of the cost of a house in some cities.

I just find it ironic whenever I see instances of people saying "government should fix the problem" when in fact it was government that caused the problem by interfering in people's rational decision making.

If a city can't feed itself it shouldn't exist.

How about cities which can't provide their own drinking water, or provide their own energy, or provide their own auto manufacturing, etc? I don't see why food is different. I highly doubt that most cities in Northern BC can feed themselves, but they sure put out a lot of timber, oil, natural gas, copper, molybdenum, etc that they can trade for food.

Let the costs keep climbing, if you can't afford to live there then don't. Nothing says Vancouver is some magical place that everyone has to work and live in. In many cases you can make the same wage for doing the same job in Vancouver as you would elsewhere but you get the insane price of living to be there.

I agree. The best solution to rents which are too high is to leave the city for a place where rents are lower. This results in landlords having empty apartments and they'll lower their rents to find tenants. People seem to grasp this principle when it is applied to alcohol and tobacco taxes - low prices make booze and smokes more attractive and high prices drive consumers of these products away.