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Opinion: Residents eye empty homes of the rich

During almost every civic election campaign it seems we are hit by an unexpected flying object that manages to seize centre stage.
Beautiful Empty Homes of Vancouver.
This house is one of the homes featured on Beautiful Empty Homes of Vancouver. Screengrab

During almost every civic election campaign it seems we are hit by an unexpected flying object that manages to seize centre stage. One of the most dramatic intrusions in recent times was the small matter of a $100-million dollar loan guarantee by the city regarding the Olympic Village.

And for the past couple of weeks in the early days of this campaign we have diverted by another unexpected intrusion. This comes from COPE’s mayor candidate Meena Wong in what I would say is a contemporary take on the invitation to “eat the rich.”

The phrase originated in the 18th century and comes from the philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau whose work inspired the French Revolution. It originally read: “When people shall have nothing more to eat, they will eat the rich.”  

Brought forward to the here and now, the anxiety most broadly shared in our community is less about food and more about affordable housing. And that ultimately is what Wong is on about.

COPE historically has focused its energy almost exclusively on the East Side of town. Wong’s issue, which has set off a spark that has drawn global attention, deals with the West Side. It has to do with the growing number of vacant multi-million dollar houses, many falling into disrepair, in the city’s wealthiest neighbourhoods and how it is an issue that affects the whole city.

It is, we are told, an obscene display of wealth, a manifestation of global capitalism where housing is not about homes but about investment opportunities.

To curb this excess that drives up the price of all property in the city, Wong would like a tax on vacant housing — much of it foreign-owned, that would go towards the construction of affordable housing.

While Wong has virtually no chance of winning election and any candidates running with her are long shots at best, nothing — not the squabble over the Arbutus corridor with the CPR, not a subway along Broadway, not Kinder-Morgan and increased tanker traffic — has proven as broadly magnetic an issue. Wong’s proposal has gained traction, not just with the mainstream media but also social media.

While leaders of the two major parties, Vision and the NPA, avert their eyes saying they need more information before declaring anything more than concern, Vancouver’s Green Party wants to get in on the feast.

It is easy enough to find critics who point out that as long as owners comply with the city’s standards of maintenance  guidelines and keep their properties up, it is nobody’s business but their own if they choose to occupy their properties or not.

But even before Wong made headlines with her proposal, there was a blog site which was launched last month that was mounted by concerned West Side citizens called “Beautiful Empty Homes of Vancouver.

The bloggers, who contribute pictures of empty houses both well cared for or boarded up and falling apart, complain this phenomenon is damaging to their neighbourhoods, making them feel like ghost towns or as derelict as the worst parts of Detroit, a classic case of ruin and abandonment. They also make the link between the vacancies and a lack of affordable housing observing that “some of these homes could house 10 families, or be a new cultural venue or homeless shelter. Instead they sit empty, teasing the homeless and under-housed with a luxurious apportionment of bedrooms, bathrooms, greenhouses and living rooms.”

The passionate nature of this campaign, the enthusiasm with which it is being joined, has undoubtedly been fuelled by revelation two weeks ago from the Broadbent Institute.

Using date from Statistics Canada’s 2012 census, it observed British Columbia has the highest inequity of wealth in the whole country. Here, the top 10 per cent of the population control 56 per cent of the wealth. The bottom half controls three per cent.  Even though the mean net worth of families here is well above the national average, it is largely because of property values driven even higher by speculators.

We may frequently be classed as one of the most livable cities in the world. But we are also the most unaffordable when it comes to housing.

All of which can whet our appetite to eat the rich.

agarr@vancourier.com
twitter.com/allengarr