Kelowna

It appears not everyone agrees with Kelowna Mayor Walter Gray's assessment of how affordable it is to live in Kelowna.

In a recent Castanet poll a whopping 88.76 percent of respondents said they disagreed with Gray's assertion that it's a myth Kelowna is an unaffordable place to own a home.

Ruth MacKenzie, a single mother of two children told Castanet that having to pay rent, child care, groceries and bills, is a struggle for anyone in her situation.

She writes:

I have an education and a decent wage but I can barely make ends meet and I live in a small 2 bedroom.

Students have it hard as well, between school cost, groceries, bills, and only being able to work 2 shifts a week max, without parents they starve, they loose grades because they work too much and have to study.

Student loans don't pay for everything. With some schools it doesn't even fully cover tuition.

What about the people that don't have a chance to get an education, their rent is too high and they have to work two jobs just to make ends meet?

You think this is a myth?

People are hungry, stressed, angry, and depressed, because we can't make a living here.

Has the mayor ever thought about how all the subsidized housing is being taken up?

It really makes me angry how he can just dismiss the people that have to rent. Do we not count because we don't own property?

Maybe he should be thinking about expanding subsidized housing instead of building more condos and buying over priced sculptures.

Wayne Hall agreed:

I think the mayor needs to look at the bigger picture regarding cost of living in Kelowna and BC in general. It is one thing to throw numbers out for housing and taxes on housing however he needs to look at the amount of money people make.

With wages being lower and most jobs being part time, it makes it very difficult to make it in Kelowna.

Taxes are high and most employers here take advantage of employees knowing work is scarce.

The long and short of it is, it is not just Kelowna that is expensive, it is all of BC.

We would like to hear what you think. Whether you agree that housing is too expensive, or you think Kelowna's cost are reasonable compared to other jurisdictions, send us your thoughts.

email: news@castanet.net