PelhamToday received the following letter disagreeing with a recent column by James Culic.
The Baby Boomers didn't run up the cost of housing.
The sky-rocketing housing prices had much more to do with low supply generated by government policy along with mass immigration creating a supply shortage versus demand issue. Also to blame is off-shore investors purchasing properties and leaving them vacant waiting for prices to rise which exacerbated the housing shortage. Think of the situation in Vancouver, for instance.
Among others, there were fewer building permits being issued over the years due to such things as greenbelt restrictions, etc., and also rapidly rising interest rates at a time when housing prices were already in the stratosphere. All of this was the direct result of governmental policy.
None of this was in the control of the average working Boomer. The working Boomers absolutely did not destroy the housing market.
We worked our butts off working shifts often in unhealthy environments and drove old beat up cars that we repaired ourselves as new was out of the question all to pay for our homes, put our kids through college and university and sacrificed a lot by doing without big time over our working years. Our homes were indeed cheaper, but bear in mind our mortgage rates were in the double digit range and adjusted wages at that time for the average blue collar worker was much less.
I for one understood that I alone was responsible for my family's well being and like many others of my generation, took that to heart and did what we needed to do to accomplish it.
I'm now retired and living on a modest fixed income pension and have my daughter and two grandkids living with us and although she works, cannot afford rent much less a mortgage in today's market.
We do whatever is necessary for family and I'm very grateful that we're in a position to help.
No one was ever coming to our rescue. All the responsibility and the struggle to stay financially afloat lay with us.
I agree that taxes should have been adjusted over the years to keep pace with repairs, new infrastructure, etc.
The first I heard of the crisis situation was with the recent article you're commenting on. The responsibility to keep the citizens informed in a timely manner along the way and make the hard choices lay with the local municipal government and they failed in their responsibility in that regard. But I suppose, that doesn't get you reelected.
So here we are, stuck in a bad situation and it looks like all of us are going to have to suck it up and pitch in and bear the responsibility of fixing up this disaster.
Not happy either, but it is what it is.
We do what needs doing.
Mike Allen
St. Catharines
