Urbanism Vancouver podcast hosted by Helen Lui
Why housing is so scarce and expensive, and what to do about it
Urbanism Vancouver is a new podcast series, hosted by Helen Lui, which discusses why housing in Vancouver is so scarce and expensive, and how to make it easier to build more housing, whether market or non-market.
The first two episodes are out now:
Ground Work - with Helen Lui, producer Aaron Johnson, and Michelle Scarr. Michelle describes how she came across a Reddit post by Helen during the fight over the Streamlining Rental policy, and what it's like to listen to a public hearing. "It's worse than fiction. Think of Parks and Rec. It's worse than that."
Building Affordability - with Albert Huang, who works with non-profits to build non-market housing.
I'm part of an informal pro-housing community centered around a Discord server. Helen is one of the key people in the community. She has a lot of experience working on non-market housing; more recently she's been working on market housing.
Getting the word out
Someone asked on Reddit:
I’d love to hear more ideas about how do we get more renters and young people interested in local politics to help push back against the inertia of (mainly) boomer homeowners who exert the most control over status quo housing policy.
Good question! What I find most motivating (and maddening) is simply listening to housing opponents. Maybe we should put together a highlight reel of opponents. Justin McElroy put together a Concerned Citizens Waltz video during the public hearing on rental townhouses in Shaughnessy.
I mostly use Reddit to try to get the word out when there's a big battle going on. Writing comments to council is a pretty easy way to help counter-balance housing opponents. But of course not everybody is on Reddit.
A lot of people learn about housing through YouTube channels like Not Just Bikes and Oh the Urbanity!
The new podcast may be another way to get the word out.
Helen's been writing columns for the Georgia Straight.
Mainstream media - Justin McElroy with CBC, Dan Fumano in the Vancouver Sun, Frances Bula in the Globe and Mail.
Political parties are another way for people to get involved. In Canada the political process is pretty open: it's easy to get on a mailing list, show up at events, and get to know people. At the municipal level in Vancouver there's ABC, OneCity, and the Greens. (I'd like to get a better picture of what things look like in Surrey and Richmond - I know that in Burnaby they're dominated by the NDP-affiliated BCA.)