For those who love change, your time is coming. For those who resist change, prepare for a bumpy ride.
Like most municipalities in the Lower Mainland, our beautiful South Delta is in for a sea of change. It’s inevitable with the continued influx of people moving south of the Fraser, a new tunnel and demand for housing.
There’s a pattern repeating itself when it comes to new builds. I see it in the negative reactions to several current proposed developments that include rental housing and mix-used spaces.
NIMBYism is alive and well in South Delta. Developer is a dirty word, and unless new buildings are designed with the smallest footprint there is outrage.
Anyone over 60 has to face the fact that the future may not cater to our desires, it’s the next generation that should be our priority. Our aged version of what a neighbourhood looks like is going the way of the Dodo bird.
We can no longer be a community made up of single-family homes. We are in desperate need of affordable mixed housing if we want to keep our businesses open, attract young people to raise their families here and increase our tax base.
Yet when a developer tries to provide rental housing or commercial space they are met with resistance. Often that is from long-term residents settled in their single-family homes for decades. They do not want to see tall buildings, density or rentals in their neighbourhood.
If you’re looking to rent in South Delta today prepare for sticker shock. Trying to find a place to rent in Tsawwassen or Ladner for under $2,000 a month is almost impossible.
It’s not until we have a child or a family member who is searching for housing that we have a wake-up call about just how prohibitive living here can be.
Only five per cent of our housing stock in Delta is purpose built rentals. Imagine how that skews our demographics.
It behoves us to think outside of the box. Finish that basement suite, consider a laneway house or build a duplex. Show your support for mixed housing so that we can keep our children in the community they grew up in.
Our future is our youth and they need our help, not resistance from community members who see change as the enemy.
Ingrid Abbott is a freelance writer who recognizes she is lucky to live in her own home and reminds herself people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.
