Cattle bells, the pulp mill smells
And the Chamber of Commerce weighs in on short-term rentals
Are you tired? I’m so tired. This is my early warning that this newsletter will be off starting sometime next week. There’s a council meeting on Monday so probably after that but we’ll see.
The Prince George Chamber of Commerce has come out in support of the city seeking an exemption from short-term rental rules. In a press release sent out yesterday, chamber advocacy committee chair Ron Camp says while his organization supports the need to improve access to housing in many cities, that’s not the issue here:
While all regions of the province appear to be facing long-term housing shortages, not all regions or municipalities are facing the same pressures from tourism as the Lower Mainland, Squamish, Kelowna, etc. At the same time, other parts of the province are facing short-term housing demands driven by the need to bring in health care workers, construction workers, and other skilled and professional workers for two to three months at a time to meet economic and health needs of the region.
Because of these regional and municipal differences, different municipalities need different types and proportions of short and long-term housing to meet their housing needs for their unique workforce situations. Municipalities such as Prince George need a higher proportion of housing suitable for two to three month stays for locum health care workers, construction workers, and others on short term assignments in and around Prince George.
I’m not really arguing with this because, as I’ve said before, the data doesn’t indicate short-term rentals are really having much impact one way or another on our housing stock. I do have questions about the assumption that Prince George needs more housing for short-term workers than other cities, though. Abent data, I’m not convinced that we have some unique need for construction workers or nurses to kick around for a couple of months at a time any more than, say, Squamish or Kamloops does. Presumably, though, some of these questions will be answered when city staff bring back their report to council on this topic.
Cattle bells
Kathleen writes:
I read your post RE: the 12 Days of Christmas - PG edition – and it took me back to the late 1970s, and the few short years of living on a small acreage in 103 Mile House with my parents. We moved from the coast because my dad has a dream of a hobby farm - he was an Alberta farm boy who moved to Vancouver when they sold the farm, and he met my mom, the city girl, in the Big Smoke.
This was all before it got down to -52F one winter and my mother said something akin to “yeah, that’s enough” and we moved to the Okanagan the next year. Btw, I still have my dad’s journal with that temperature recorded, since Alberta farm boys are diligent about writing down the weather conditions every single day.Anyway, in Grade 2 or 3 at 108 Elementary, we were taught a different version of a certain carol for the annual Christmas pageant. I'm going to be one of those old timers who forgets what I was doing five minutes ago, but I'll never forget these lyrics. And perhaps you will never forget them either.
~Sing along to the tune of Silver Bells~
Cattle bells.... cattle bells.....
It's Christmas time in the country....
Here them ring, ding-a-ling...
Soon it will be Christmas Day!
Cattle lowing...
It is snowing...
In the Cariboo...
And it's time to cut kindling once again!
There may have been more to the lyrics but these clearly stuck in my 7 year old brain. I searched Google to see if I could find some reference to this Cariboo version, but no luck yet. I wonder if any of your other readers are familiar with “Cattle Bells”?
If you have more insight into this one, feel free to reach out!
Quick news:
Today’s song is MÁQUINA CULONA by Ralphie Choo & Mura Masa
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To Kathleen:
Do you remember the name of your teacher who taught you that song at 108 Elementary in the 70s? I can't think of anyone I knew working there earlier than the 80s/90s, but it's a small world so I might know someone who still knows them. (I used to teach down in SD27.) P.S., growing up in the 103 in the 70s, you must have gone to the drive-in theatre there, right? (Google says it was called the Rangeland drive-in and closed in 1984.) I only went once with my mom. We saw ... Footloose, but the only part I remember--quite vividly, given that I was 4 years old--is the game of chicken between the tractors. (Had to rewatch it on youtube .. still holds up!)
As someone who has yet to become a homeowner, it is incredibly disheartening to see the short term rental reaction. Young people want to settle down in Prince George but it’s impossible when all of the starter homes are being scooped up by people wanting to use them as Airbnbs. UNBC students are far less likely to want to stay in Prince George after graduating when housing is so unaffordable and there is very little chance of being able to afford to buy their own homes. The prioritizing of short term workers over long term residents is very questionable.
With the Airbnb ban, there will still be the MANY hotels in Prince George, as well as any airbnbs that are being run in the owner’s primary residence. There will not be a shortage of housing for temporary workers.