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I can't help but feel that there's is an inevitable counterpoint coming to this first wave of euphoric enthusiasm over the Senakw development. There is much to praise about the first, utopian phase, but so many details still to come and some likely readjustments on the horizon.
There will be a lot more scrutiny once the public knows more about what the rent levels are likely to be. The Squamish are rightly not in the business of subsidizing housing for non-nation members, but 4,000 or so apartments at very high rents would leave a sour taste.
Although overall costs of the project should be lower than, for example, developer Ian Gillespie's Vancouver House, given free land and minimal parking, they won't be nothing. Very high concrete towers are the most expensive form of construction and the higher they go, the more $
That means bringing some portion of apartments to below-market or even at-market rates will require a subsidy from elsewhere, the most probable source being the federal government's CMHC programs. That will take some negotiating and no one knows the outcome of that yet.
Then there's the question of what rules will apply to those renting. The Residential Tenancy Act won't apply. There have been scattered instances of unpleasant fights between First Nations and tenants when rents went up by rates way over the usual allowable limit.
The Vancouver Sun had a good story exploring the options for renter rules on the land. But no one knows yet what those will eventually be. vancouversun.com/news/local-new…
I get that a lot of people are gleeful over this project because of a raft of frustrations many have with current city-planning practices that seem to work counter to a lot of goals related to living more sustainably or building more efficiently.
But, even without city interference, surprises and compromises are coming. I just hope we don't do that thing (so familiar in present-day politics) of having a violent infatuation and then, when it turns out the person or thing is not 100-per-cent perfect, switching to vitriol.
And, one final thought. In spite of what the cautions I'm saying everyone should bear in mind, it has been a pleasant surprise to a lot of people in and around this project that the mention of "Indigenous" has NOT set off the usual troll pack of awfulness.
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