To the editor:
Re: "Vancouver realtors cater to wealthy offshore Chinese as middle class gets squeezed," vancourier.com, April 3.
It's about time that this major problem be discussed. My husband and I are increasingly frustrated with what is going on in the city and although my husband has an excellent job in finance with a great salary we continue to rent little bungalows on the West Side that sell for ridiculous prices ($2 million or more) to Chinese investor class citizens.
We watch our previous rentals get torn down so that another huge empty house can take its place. It's heartbreaking and the fact that we have a daughter who is two years old makes the situation more frustrating because we can't provide a stable situation-a small house, near a good school in a safe neighbourhood. We watch as our trust-fund friends buy on the East Side paying crazy prices to live in houses that need a lot of work in less than perfect neighbourhoods.
We are on our own financially, so sadly Vancouver has become our enemy rather than our friend. Every day we discuss leaving. Our job search in other parts of the nation continues because we are getting the message loud and clear- Vancouver doesn't want us here.
Sad but true.
Rebecca Kovacs, Vancouver
