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And you thought 2010 was going to bring a housing crunch? Wait for global climate change

October 17, 2008 By 4 Comments

As much as we Vancouverites complain about the rain in the winter, we have it pretty good as far as weather and climate is concerned. Mild winters, nice summers all that, turns out that as global climate change hits a tipping point we might be flooded with people coming here to live:

Looking at a city like Nelson, with under 12,000 residents currently, and imagining this population ballooning to over 50-100,000 people as a result of climate change refugees and changing world political and economic priorities and climate – I don’t think it’s wrong to be looking at the issue with a broad mind. Source: The Truth About the Pacific NorthWest and Climate Change

This isn’t as nuts as you might think. No, our climate will change too, but because of our geography, etc this area is pretty likely to be a nice place to live regardless.

Which means are Provincial and Federal governments thinking about this yet? Shouldn’t B.C. cater to Canadians who want to move here over people from outside our borders moving because of climate?

How will we feed these people?

All good questions. Answers? Not yet.

Soon I hope though.

© Tris Hussey, 2008. Vancouver-based event and portrait photographer. Check out my photography portfolio for examples of my work.

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  • http://kevinbaggs.com Kevin Baggs

    I think this only the tip of the iceberg ;)
    I was born and raised in Vancouver. My family moved to Toronto during high school. Late last year I took my new family back to Vancouver for 6 months. The biggest shock was the housing prices. They are 2X the prices in the Toronto area. Parents are building suites in their homes so their kids will have a place to live. The evidence of this in starting to show up in the infrastructure. They can’t find police, teachers, fire or ambulance personnel. Schools are closing down as young families can’t afford to live there. People are moving west to Chilliwack and Abbotsford, but there isn’t the roads, bridges or transit to support the commute. I heard stories of people leaving their home at 5:00am to make it to work on time.

    So when you combine 2010, the current economic crisis and now the climate change…it provides a wide number of variables to the Vancouver area.

    Kevin Baggs´s last blog post..Is ASUS the Next Apple?

  • http://kevinbaggs.com Kevin Baggs

    I think this only the tip of the iceberg ;)
    I was born and raised in Vancouver. My family moved to Toronto during high school. Late last year I took my new family back to Vancouver for 6 months. The biggest shock was the housing prices. They are 2X the prices in the Toronto area. Parents are building suites in their homes so their kids will have a place to live. The evidence of this in starting to show up in the infrastructure. They can’t find police, teachers, fire or ambulance personnel. Schools are closing down as young families can’t afford to live there. People are moving west to Chilliwack and Abbotsford, but there isn’t the roads, bridges or transit to support the commute. I heard stories of people leaving their home at 5:00am to make it to work on time.

    So when you combine 2010, the current economic crisis and now the climate change…it provides a wide number of variables to the Vancouver area.

    Kevin Baggs´s last blog post..Is ASUS the Next Apple?

  • http://www.trishussey.com/ Tris Hussey

    You’re quite right Kevin. Combine this with rising gas prices we could be in for wholesale changes in how we live and work. At some point either business will move from the city centres or housing will have to become more affordable.

  • http://www.trishussey.com/ Tris Hussey

    You’re quite right Kevin. Combine this with rising gas prices we could be in for wholesale changes in how we live and work. At some point either business will move from the city centres or housing will have to become more affordable.

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