Moderate Income Rental at 4th & Balaclava
Support Moderate Income Apartments in Kitsilano!
What, Where, When:
A proposal for a 6-storey, Moderate Income Rental Housing Pilot Program (MIRHPP) apartment building at 3084 W 4th Avenue and 2010 Balaclava Street is going to public hearing at Vancouver City Council on Thursday, Feb. 11th at 6:00 p.m.
Why this Project Needs Your Support:
- 20% of the building will be permanently affordable to moderate incomes (starting average $30k income for studios up to $64k for 2 bedrooms). Moderate incomes are under-represented in Kits compared to the rest of Vancouver.
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This is a small apartment building on a street with many other apartment buildings, but is “controversial” because it is in Kitsilano, and unfortunately, Kitsilano has an organized opposition to new housing, which is typical of wealthier, whiter areas of Vancouver. An opponent of a previous MIRHPP project openly said it would be “dropping the ghetto in Kitsilano.” And ultimately, pushing new apartments out of Kits puts more pressure on other areas of Vancouver and our region - not to mention existing rental housing stock.
Help Get Moderate Income Rental Homes Approved at Broadway & Alma!
Are you or your children renters, or will they be soon? Are other loved ones or friends struggling to stay in Vancouver? This apartment building is for you! It will have 161 secured rental homes, including 20% (by floor area) reserved permanently for moderate incomes earning between $30,000 and $80,000.
TL;DR: This building will improve affordability in Vancouver, as well as access to jobs and public transit. It is at risk because people in wealthy neighbourhoods are very organized in their opposition to new buildings, especially buildings that are larger (i.e. include more homes), and several city councillors have recently started trying to delay most housing initiatives. To support, speak at the public hearing this Tuesday, October 27th, and/or write in via the City's online comment form. Don’t know what to say? Here's the basics, read on for more:
Subject: 3701-3743 West Broadway
Position: Support
Comments: Whatever you like, the more specific & personal the better! It can be as simple as "We need much more rental in West Point Grey / near UBC / in this City. The housing crisis is now; this project must be approved and not delayed" Read below to find out some of the reasons this is a great proposal that should be replicated many times over.
Why Vancouver needs these apartments and many more like it:
1. Centrally Located - By public transit, these homes will be 30 minutes to UBC and 30 minutes right to Waterfront Station. By bike, they are 15 minutes to UBC, 30 minutes to Waterfront Station downtown.
2. Zero Displacement - Wealthy, low-density neighbourhoods need to stop pushing people out through no growth or slow growth planning policies. It's socially bad, forces people in less affluent neighbourhoods to compete with West Point Grey's wealthy children for housing, and makes thousands of people have longer commutes. This proposal is exactly where we should be building much more housing, and this building will not displace any current tenants!
WPG has half the population density of the rest of Vancouver.
WPG is one of the wealthiest neighbourhoods in the city, but far too many people can't afford the rent.
3. Moderate Income Homes - While building more market rental homes helps to increase affordability through increased supply, these moderate income homes will help keep people in their neighbourhood who can't afford market rents today (and long into the future). To meet the targets set out in the Housing Vancouver Strategy, the City needs to approve about 573 moderate income homes per year over the next 8 years, roughly 19 buildings like this per year. The need for "missing middle" housing is great, and City Council needs to be pushed to do much more much faster. This project is a step in the right direction.
Read moreWhy You Should Care About Birch (and other Moderate Income Rental Projects)
And What You Can Do About It Right Now
Are you a renter? Are your children renters (or will they be soon)? Are other loved ones or friends you’d like to be able to stay in Vancouver renters? Great, this apartment building is for you!
TL;DR: This building will improve affordability in Vancouver, as well as access to jobs and public transit. To support, speak at the public hearing this Thursday, July 9th, and write in to [email protected]. Don’t know what to say?