Many people tend to think of people who need affordable housing as those people — in other words, not somebody they would ever know or associate with.
But consider that we recently featured in the Citizen the stories of a number of people who were living in rooms at $1,000 at month at a motel in Duncan, who could not find suitable, more permanent accommodations. A thousand dollars a month is a lot of money; many people have mortgage payments that aren’t that high. And yet, these folks were relegated to precarious housing status because there just aren’t enough places to go around in Cowichan.
These aren’t deadbeats or troublemakers. These are regular folks who can’t find a roof to go over their heads.
That’s why, in spite of the outcry we know will be coming from some, we are in full support of the increase in density to the two affordable housing projects North Cowichan is sponsoring, one in Duncan and one in Chemainus. Some of the neighbours, particularly of the Duncan site, have decried the increase in traffic the development will bring, and the loss of parking for the ballfields and curling club.
But frankly the need for people to have a place to live that they can afford is more important than overflow parking, and traffic concerns are something we think are solvable, and not a reason not to go ahead.
This is for young people just starting out, perhaps with low-paying first jobs. It’s for single parents who are struggling to survive on a single income, sometimes with several mouths to feed. It’s for seniors on a fixed income who have found themselves priced out of the market in a way they never expected.
We applaud the municipality for stepping in where the private market has not kept up with demand at the low-cost end of the housing scale. Our community needs this. We predict demand for the units will outstrip the number being built, even with the increase in density.