2024 Elections Thread

[dismalist]

... much high rise new condo construction is being bought up by speculators, meaning even purchasing a high rise unit is out of reach for many.

Are the speculators not renting out the flats? If they are leaving the flats empty, that's a hell of an expensive way to speculate!

Point is all types of housing is more or less substitutable for any other. Just prices differ. The speculators, foreign students, immigrants, are not taking away anything. We are not allowing construction.

[Parasaurolophus]

So exactly what about your community is so great that someone, esp a rich someone, would pay this much for so little, in order to live there?  And given how much land Canada has, why aren't more acres available for building homes?

Nothing. It's just the only way you'll get more than two bedrooms at 3000-4000 per month.

Space is constrained here because there's ocean to the west, the border to the south, and impassable mountains to the north.

But one can build up! That's actually cheap.

There is something called a Vancouver Plan. There's too much verbiage in there for my taste, but it has some very pretty and informative maps and pictures starting about page 56. The thrust is away from single-family homes, which is good. My guess is that the planners are still too restrictive about height, but they may be OK. Also missing is information about the surroundings of Vancouver proper, a faraway place about which I know little.

The sky's the limit!

Yes. But for once we agree: zoning is the obstacle.

And what is to the east?

A sprawl of other cities. They're somewhat less expensive, but still zoned for single family homes, which cost no less than one and a half million. It's like that for a several-hour drive. Things do get better in parts of the province, but not much better.

My students mostly have a two or three-hour commute one way, and they still share a single room with three other people.

[kaysixteen]

Other (real) issues notwithstanding, anyone in BC get the idea that it perhaps may be time to jettison the unrealistic, painful zoning regs and other assorted elements of the NIMBY syndrome?

[Parasaurolophus]

Other (real) issues notwithstanding, anyone in BC get the idea that it perhaps may be time to jettison the unrealistic, painful zoning regs and other assorted elements of the NIMBY syndrome?

Yes, but it's hard. Especially because once you've got yourself your home for a million or two, that stops being in your interest. Your retirement plan basically shifts to 'sell my house'.

(Incidentally, and to gesture towards returning to the thread topic, despite my contribution to derailment: we did just have an election on Saturday. Final results won't be in before the end of the month, but the ruling NDP and upstart Conservatives are basically tied, with Greens holding the balance of power. It was a crazy election campaign, which saw the Liberals dissolve and join the newly formed Conservative Party. A very dreary election policy-wise, though.)

[kaysixteen]

what are the distinctive views and policies of the BC Green party?

[ciao_yall]

... much high rise new condo construction is being bought up by speculators, meaning even purchasing a high rise unit is out of reach for many.

Are the speculators not renting out the flats? If they are leaving the flats empty, that's a hell of an expensive way to speculate!

Point is all types of housing is more or less substitutable for any other. Just prices differ. The speculators, foreign students, immigrants, are not taking away anything. We are not allowing construction.

There are buildings that are almost empty because the owners bought the units to park cash, and can't be bothered to rent them out.

In SF we saw this with a lot of commercial spaces as well as apartments.

 It got worse during the pandemic because, as rents went down, the owners who would have rented could not because they would have been out of compliance with their funding terms.

[nebo113]

what are the distinctive views and policies of the BC Green party?

Easy to find online.

https://bcgreens2024.ca/policy-book/

[kaysixteen]

Yeah, I guess that t hought has crossed my mind, but I wanted the perspective of a local man, a college professor, as to what makes the Greens tick, and why one would join them as opposed to, say, the NDP?  If it is true that this election will leave the Greens holding the balance of power, they will have to form a coalition with someone, and that someone will have to presumably compromise and give the Greens something, etc.  Therefore Greens leadership would have to decide which party to coalesce with, or am I missing something?

[clean]

I Voted Today! 
Got there about 445. They closed at 5, so I made it in the door and was nearly finished when the closed the door.

there was a slight delay because my drivers license includes my full name and my registration has my middle initial. 

I had to complete an affidavit that I m me.   
I asked about using my passport, but they said that the drivers license is easier for them to process. They scan the license, I m not sure what they would do with the passport. 
But I didnt have a passport with me today anyway, so it worked out for the best! 

The bad news is that Even Though I have voted and can no longer be swayed by the ads, the ads are still running! 

[Sun_Worshiper]

I mailed in my ballot over the weekend and I can see that it has been accepted

[Sea_Ice]

Does anyone else think that, if Trump is elected, it'll actually be Prez. Vance within a year or less?  That's been a nightmare I've been trying to avoid thinking about for weeks, and still can't shake.

[Ruralguy]

I think that *might* be the case, but I certainly don't think its the most probable outcome, even if you accept in advance that Trump will win next week (which I realize is where the momentum is pointing, but not necessarily where things really are, considering unquantifiable polling errors).

In any case, its Trump himself who is the even greater nightmare, in my opinion, though Vance ain't great.

[dismalist]

This election reminds me, oddly, of 2000. I thought Bush and Gore were both idiots. I tuned out after watching about 15 minutes of one debate between the two. For some strange reason, I tuned into the Vice-Presidential debate, and discovered that both Lieberman and Cheney appeared far more intelligent than the two at the top of the ticket!

In this election, I like neither top candidate. Not to get too substantive, but just as an example, both their approaches to economic policy are from never-never-land. There's real symmetry there! So, I'm for Trump because I mistrust the Left, not for anything to do with Trump.  Ms. Harris is a litany of word salads, whose main platform plank is -- Trump!

Now, Walz is surely a disappointment to some, but he beats Ms. Harris in my estimation. And while Vance's policies mimic Trump's, he seems far more polished, civilized, and perhaps even intelligent than Trump.

A better presidential race would be Walz-Vance!

[Sea_Ice]

The major reason I'm worried is that I wouldn't put it past Vance to assemble the bipartisan backing he needed to pull a 25th Amendment "coup", with the primary reason being Trump's lack of cognitive ability to do the job.

[dismalist]

The major reason I'm worried is that I wouldn't put it past Vance to assemble the bipartisan backing he needed to pull a 25th Amendment "coup", with the primary reason being Trump's lack of cognitive ability to do the job.

I don't think that would be terrible! But it's also highly, highly, unlikely. Sleep peacefully. :-)