Comments on: The micro-condo comes to Vancouver

By: Andrea C.

Andrea C. — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 03:59:52 +0000

Thanks, Stephanie. Your posts higher up gave me the inspiration to add my opinion, and I’m glad I did.

By: Andrea C.

Andrea C. — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 03:46:02 +0000

Bill,

Hah – good one! Only the grand poobahs of Japan (past and present) rate a whole 15 jo room. Now, a 15 jo won ru-mu… there are literally a million of those.
Japanese proverb: ” Why have a 1000 tatami house when all you need to sleep is one tatami?” (or something along that line).

By: Jon

Jon — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 02:09:14 +0000

Andrea C.

I though you were aspiring to the high caliber of discussion that proceeded you on this blog. Then you went on to cast all your negative comments in terms of hate and then more hate. Easy words to use, but hard to justify.

also….

“students” not equal to “college co-eds”
“people in transition” not equal to “business people living out of a suitcase”

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 23:11:33 +0000

Andrea, well done. Anyone commenting here should know well enough that disagreeing will work out fine, but insulting everyone’s intelligence will get you slapped well and truly down. Not an auspicious debut, Mr. Stovell.

By: Bill Lee

Bill Lee — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 09:55:53 +0000

And how many 15 jo rooms to you see in the J-soaps?

http://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatamo

By: Andrea C.

Andrea C. — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 06:18:52 +0000

Since it will only take a second to respond to the above post….

Vancouver Sun 25 January 2010
Darah Hansen

“First Look Inside Vancouver ‘micro-lofts’”

VANCOUVER — The city’s smallest rental suites were unveiled Monday at a media event held in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.

Located in the century-old Burns Block building at 18 West Hastings St., the 270-square-foot so-called “micro-lofts” are expected to fetch an average of $750 a month, and, according to a company press release, attract “students, people in transition and those looking to work and live in the heart of the downtown area.”

Here’s the source:

http://www.globaltvbc.com/First+look+inside+Vancouver+micro+lofts/2483809/story.html

The second paragraph quotes “a company press release”. Whose company could that be?
All I did was put a little honest thought into what that “students and transients” thing could mean, especially since they were the first and second items on the wish-list for prospective renters.

And Mr. Developer told me I got it all wrong

Oh, well, back to my Japanese historical soaps – they’re gonna raid another castle soon..

By: jon

jon — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 03:56:48 +0000

Andrea C you have it wrong. We never referenced either college co-eds or business people living out of a suitcase in anything we said. We rent to many local residents in our other properties. We just have not been able to meet the demands of the ones who want to pay $700 – $800.

By: Andrea C.

Andrea C. — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 05:46:38 +0000

As usual, the calibre of discussion from all sides is terrific. I haven’t felt this intimidated since I was in BC Youth Parliament long ago (I know, what a nerd).
I both love and hate these microcondos.
Love: It’s about time high-quality, efficient and self-contained “micro” dwellings were offered as a rental option in this city. People who make snarky comments on the Vancouver Sun site such as “this isn’t China” need to give it a rest. There are hundreds of people living in much smaller units in the DTES, and that doesn’t seem to bother these glib commentators a bit. On the other hand, there are thousands of others renting shoddy, substandard and outdated accomodations in this town at inflated prices because anything better is simply out of reach.
That would be the working poor, condemned to making the lowest wages in the entire country, while paying a punitive amount to the taxman. The middle class ain’t got troubles like these, so I’ll cry for them another day.
Which brings me to hate: this project is ethically cursed, as it replaces badly needed seniors housing in the area. The owner who let the building slide into an unliveable condition should be held accountable by the city (I know, dream on). Why, then, this building for microcondos? Refurbishing the seniors housing should have been priority number one.
More hate: the developers are clearly not interested in setting a positive precedent, nor are they taking local residents into account. Technically, I could afford the $750/month rent they’re fishing for, but when I hear the developer enthusing about what a great housing opportunity this would be for college co-eds and business people living out of a suitcase on a expense account , I can think of only one response: “Oh, scr*w you”.

By: michael geller

michael geller — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 18:34:47 +0000

JJJ, the issue preventing the development of Fee Simple Street oriented row housing relates to the legal status of the party wall, and ensuring it remains as long as necessary to support the units. There is a fuller explanation on my blog http://www.gellersworldtravel.blogspot.com dated November 28, 2009.

Art Cowie got around this by building two separate walls. However, Parklane Homes has built a fee simple row house project in Langley with a different approach to the legal agreements. This is described further on my blog.

I agree this could be an excellent solution for many arterials, although the overall density, while higher than single family housing, tends to remain relatively low. Therefore, stacked townhouses, 4 storey apartments and other mid-rise forms may be more appropriate.

By: Joe Just Joe

Joe Just Joe — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 21:51:49 +0000

I should clarify my position a little. I’m definately in support of the style row houses I described, but I’m not anti high-rises or mid-rises either. I beleive there needs to be an ever adjusting balance between many different styles. Personally I’d love to see row houses down what are currently residential arterials like 41st, oak, cambie, 1st ave etc.
My understanding is Art Cowie had managed to get a non-strata rowhouses project thru the system but I never heard details, can anyone on here confrim or deny?