Last spring, Metro Vancouver released a report suggesting that members of entire employment categories—including police officers and nurses—would have trouble buying their first home in the region at their current income level, assuming a 10-percent down payment and an interest rate of 4.4 percent.
For Rennie, one of the keys is increasing densities and allowing the benefits to be passed along to consumers. But he worries that Vancouver’s EcoDensity Initiative (for more, see page 39) might be putting too much emphasis on environmental sustainability and not enough on addressing the financial challenges faced by middle-income people. “I think EcoDensity is irresponsible if it doesn’t address affordability,” he said.
