What has happened to Vancouver? (real estate, houses, calculated)

[_Charles_]

What has happened to Vancouver? I was in Vancouver this weekend after a six year absence and I was shocked. The streets in downtown Vancouver were filthy and there were homeless people camped out in the street. There was a large number of boarded up and poorly kept buildings.

I also noted in the residential areas considered to be nice that many of the houses were in obvious need of repair.

Please understand I am not bashing Canada or Vancouver but something was obviously wrong. Taxes in Canada are high and you have a national health system and extensive social services so why homeless people?

I calculated based on the price of gas per liter you are paying $5 a gallon and I know most of that is taxes too. Where is the revenue going? Did I miss something? Is Canada in a recession?

[ajau]

Originally Posted by _Charles_

What has happened to Vancouver? I was in Vancouver this weekend after a six year absence and I was shocked. The streets in downtown Vancouver were filthy and there were homeless people camped out in the street. There was a large number of boarded up and poorly kept buildings.

I also noted in the residential areas considered to be nice that many of the houses were in obvious need of repair.

Please understand I am not bashing Canada or Vancouver but something was obviously wrong. Taxes in Canada are high and you have a national health system and extensive social services so why homeless people?

I calculated based on the price of gas per liter you are paying $5 a gallon and I know most of that is taxes too. Where is the revenue going? Did I miss something? Is Canada in a recession?

What's happened to Vancouver in the last 6 years? Speculative real estate investors and flippers...

[Vichel]

Vancouver's had homeless people for a lot longer than 6 years. I lived there from '77 to '99 and always remember homeless people. Many homeless are the mentally ill. There's few facilities for them, so they're on the street. Others "check out" of society and don't want to bother with the rat-race. I'd say that's the way it is everywhere, in other countries too.

Yes, and I often wondered where my taxes went. There's just not enough to go around. Not enough for everything and everyone.

[Acajack]

Vancouver has always had a significant homeless problem given that it is the only large city in Canada where you can live on the streets in the winter with the reasonable assurance that you won’t freeze to death. So many Canadians in difficult circumstances tend to migrate there for this reason.

The expression "skid row" I believe was even invented in Vancouver to describe the area of the city where vagrants hang out.

[_Charles_]

Oh I see, I forgot to factor in the weather relative to the rest of Canada. And I did not think of the house flippers - yes they can be a problem anywhere.

Coastal BC is beautiful I was just distreesed by some of what I saw in Vancouver proper.

I don't know how revenue sharing works in Canada in terms what stays at the Provincial level and what goes directly to Ottawa.

[Acajack]

A few years ago, the government of BC’s neighbour province of Alberta actually was handing out one-way bus tickets to Vancouver to its welfare recipients. I am not making this up!

Sometimes, Canada’s just one big happy family!