Dear Editor:
Re: The many faces of homelessness, Burnaby NOW, Oct. 11
As a longtime non-market-rate apartment renter, I fear one day losing my own residence through eviction by reason of renovation (a.k.a. "renoviction"), a means by which large real-estate owners can become considerably wealthier by replacing non-market-rate rental units with big-bucks condos.
The renoviction epicentre, the West End of Vancouver within the core of Vancouver proper, got well underway about a decade ago; it's been slowly creeping outward since.
Where can a renter there possibly go to afford non-market-rate rental shelter, except into the outlying areas, the suburbs, until they're eventually driven to the (for the most part) still-barely-affordable Metro Vancouver outskirts - or even beyond, including Abbotsford and Mission, etc. - territory which will not guarantee indefinite respite from the spread of the renoviction virus. And with the renoviction infection spreading outwards from its ground zero, "non-profit" coupled with "supportive housing" are as crucial as ever for the shelter-survival of the poorest folk.
Frank G. Sterle, Jr., White Rock
