Saw this poster on a little La Prairie Ave. street in the Point not far from St. Patrick, a strip that has attracted many condos over the last couple of decades because of its proximity to the Lachine Canal.
Gotta admire the feistiness of the Point, who are fighting the noble battle for affordable rents, which is something that people should be able to get in this city.
I differ, however, with their notion of how to go achieve this goal, as the folks who have put up this poster are all about the government intervening to slow down development and put further rules to prevent a lot of posh housing getting built.
They ask that 40 percent of the area be devoted to subsidized housing, but the longstanding total for social housing for the area is already at 50 percent according to a number that has been tossed around for a long time.
Placing extra restrictions on condo development is actually counterproductive for the poor because it only discourages the growth of the housing supply.
Once you do that, according to the simple rules of supply and demand, you get higher prices.
And of course, the more homes you have, the bigger your tax base, the bigger your tax base, the more you can subsidize the poor if required.
So social housing activists should embrace all construction, condos, posh units, anything anywhere - yes, yes, yes - because once oversupply returns, then rents tumble back to affordable levels.It's a ton of fun having a cheap, affordable apartment and I was blessed to have several such places in the 80s and 90s but I certainly would not have gone on the government tit to get a cheap apartment.
Others might not all think like me, but I think some do and they should be free to get a crack at a cheap apartment without feeling like a government dependent and that's a goal that could be reached if we just kept growing the housing stock.
By the way, that abandoned building has been evaluated at $252,000, which seems sorta pricey if youze ask me. In case you might want to buy it to turn into condos, just contact the owner: 9225-4218 QUÉBEC INC. at 534 Cote St. Antoine, in Westmount, corner Victoria.