You would think in a diverse region like Metro Vancouver finding somewhere to live wouldn’t pose too much of a challenge for those with a decent income. I’m in my mid-twenties and I make the median income of most British Columbians, yet when I had to relocate last year for my new job the battle to find a new place to call home was absurd. I would spend hours scouring the internet and walking through neighborhoods looking for vacancy signs.
It was important for me to find an apartment in an area that was transit accessible and a reasonable commute to work. I spent over a month looking through hundreds of postings trying to find somewhere that I could call home. I went to multiple apartment viewings and met dozens of potential roommates before I finally found the right fit. You would think my story ends here, but it doesn’t.
The insecurity of the rental market in Metro Vancouver had one more surprise up its sleeve for me. Although I had lined up a room to rent in a two-bedroom apartment, the previous tenant who was supposed to move out September 1st was unable to secure a new place to live. I had already given notice to my previous landlord – whether there was a place for me to move to or not, I had to leave. I would either have to find a new place to live with two weeks left in the month or wait an entire month to move into the apartment I had found. Either way I was likely going to have to find an alternative living accommodation in the short term.
Having already spent a month searching for a new apartment, meeting countless potential roommates and wading through hundreds of listings I could not imagine starting again from ground zero. The vast majority of apartments I had previously looked at were now taken, and with only two weeks left until the end of the month there were few rentals available in my price range. Faced with few options, I made the decision to couch surf for a month.
For an entire month I lived off the kindness of friends, sleeping on apartment couches across Metro Vancouver. I stayed in New Westminster for two weeks, then Port Coquitlam. I even bunked up with a friend in their hotel room while they were in town for a conference. I am fortunate to have a network of friends generous enough to let me couch surf, but having your entire life packed in a storage room and moving your remaining belongings around the region in your car is mentally and physically exhausting.
Although my situation seems unusual there are lots of people who have difficulty finding suitable accommodation in our region. Don’t for one second imagine that my story is unique. A lack of apartments, townhomes, and condos in our region means that young people like me have difficulty finding suitable places to call homes. With 60,000 new residents and 140,000 students moving to the region annually the limited quantity of home choices leaves many in a bind.
I love Metro Vancouver, it is a region where I want to envision building my life, but the possibility of living in this region in the long term is increasingly less attainable. If Metro Vancouver does not allow a greater number of homes to be built you will see well paid young people move to other parts of the country because the cost of housing here is too high.
I love you Vancouver, but you’re just not building enough homes for me to stay here forever.
