Traditionally, housing is deemed affordable if so-called “major costs” – mortgage payments, property taxes, condo fees and utilities – consume no more than 30% of household income.
But an examination by Vancouver’s Urban Futures Institute of data from the last national census indicates that Abbotsford is the least affordable city in the province with local homeowners spending an average 18% of household income on major costs. Vancouver homeowners, by contrast, spend an average of 17% of their income on home-ownership costs – on par with Chilliwack.
“On average, whether you’re in Abbotsford at the top of the chart or in Kitimat, you’re paying significantly less on average than this 30% threshold of your income on housing,” said Urban Futures researcher Ryan Berlin.
But he said the average glosses over the real affordability challenges many households – the ones that actually own their homes, that is – face. It also questions the value of census data in making broad pronouncements about housing affordability.
“These data not only don’t tell us who these households are,” Berlin said. “They actually show us that on average, by the virtue of averages, the majority of owner-occupied households do not have affordability concerns as we describe them. We need to drill down.”
Berlin nevertheless looks forward to the findings of this year’s census. A significant shift in even the superficial measures of home ownership and affordability will underscore where further research is needed.
In the meantime, Berlin is focusing on the institute’s next report on affordable housing. Set for release this summer, it will examine measures of affordability for those seeking to move to home ownership from renting.
It’s a leap that shouldn’t be taken for granted, Berlin cautioned. For example, Montreal’s home-ownership rate is 34.4%, well below Vancouver’s rate of 48.1% (according to census stats). He suggested there’s a peculiar focus in Vancouver on ownership, when this isn’t necessarily the norm in other major centres.
Stay tuned for the institute’s findings on the topic.
Hornby Street bike lane critics who felt the city merely cycled through the motions when it consulted businesses about the lane’s implementation are again speaking out.
The city and the Vancouver Economic Development Commission recently commissioned a $125,000 report by Stantec Consulting Ltd., Site Economics Ltd. and Mustel Group Market Research to survey the effects of bike lanes on local businesses. Shops and shoppers will be canvassed, and the general public is also welcome to provide its feedback on the controversial lanes.
Laura Jones, vice-president, Western Canada with, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), appreciates the fact that the business impact of the bike lanes is being evaluated, but questions why the city didn’t study the effects in the first place.
“It’s good they’re now looking at the impact on business and how to mitigate the impacts, but it begs the question that we raised right from the beginning: why weren’t business impacts factored into the original plan?” she said.
CFIB surveys last year suggested that sales for Hornby Street businesses would drop 23%, or an average of $6,960 per business per month, if the bike lane were built.
Ron Appleton, who moved his art gallery to Marpole in response to a loss of business he attributes in part to implementation of a trial bike lane on the Burrard Bridge (now estimated to facilitate an extra 300,000 bike trips a year, primarily on summer and fall weekends), says the effects are long-lasting.
“I have hardly recovered from the effects of the restrictions placed on traffic on Hornby that almost destroyed my long-established business,” he said.
Stantec’s Hornby Street bike-lane findings will be available in July 2011.
But don’t expect those findings to nix the bike lanes. Consultants are scheduled to monitor the lanes’ effects on businesses through 2012.