The provincial government in British Columbia has purchased 11 residential hotels in an effort to improve its handling of a rapidly increasing homeless population.
"The B.C. government's announcement that it was purchasing 10 residential hotels in Vancouver and one in Victoria caught housing advocates and even provincial insiders off guard, yesterday."
"The City of Vancouver has Canada's fastest-growing homeless population, a trend fuelled in part by a recent buying binge in which real estate developers have been acquiring single-room occupancy (SRO) hotels for conversion to other uses. Housing advocates who spoke to The Tyee yesterday said the newly announced $80 million shopping spree will buy the City of Vancouver a few months of sorely needed breathing room to help cope with the problem."
"'It's depressing if you live in a hotel,' said Mark Townsend, who directs the Portland Hotel Society. 'It could be sold at any moment and you could be chucked out. So for the people living in these hotels, this is good news. And hopefully, it means these buildings are going to be better maintained.'"
FULL STORY: Province Snaps Up Poverty Hotels
Depopulation Patterns Get Weird
A recent ranking of “declining” cities heavily features some of the most expensive cities in the country — including New York City and a half-dozen in the San Francisco Bay Area.
California Exodus: Population Drops Below 39 Million
Never mind the 40 million that demographers predicted the Golden State would reach by 2018. The state's population dipped below 39 million to 38.965 million last July, according to Census data released in March, the lowest since 2015.
Chicago to Turn High-Rise Offices into Housing
Four commercial buildings in the Chicago Loop have been approved for redevelopment into housing in a bid to revitalize the city’s downtown post-pandemic.
How California Transit Agencies are Addressing Rider Harassment
Safety and harassment are commonly cited reasons passengers, particularly women and girls, avoid public transit.
Significant Investments Needed to Protect LA County Residents From Climate Hazards
A new study estimates that LA County must invest billions of dollars before 2040 to protect residents from extreme heat, increasing precipitation, worsening wildfires, rising sea levels, and climate-induced public health threats.
Federal Rule Raises Cost for Oil and Gas Extraction on Public Lands
An update to federal regulations raises minimum bonding to limit orphaned wells and ensure cleanup costs are covered — but it still may not be enough to mitigate the damages caused by oil and gas drilling.
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