To the editor:
As a visitor to your city from Vancouver, with a longstanding interest in affordable housing, I was interested to read your Mayor's Report on what the city is doing to increase the stock of rental housing. (Rental Housing a Council Priority, by Kelowna Mayor Colin Basran, July 6 Kelowna Capital News.)
Your city is to be commended for offering financial incentives to developers building purpose-built rental projects, as well as facilitating secondary suites and 'carriage houses.'
The fact is, while Kelowna may not have the influx of foreign investment that many believe is contributing to Vancouver's housing crisis, you can expect many more ex-Vancouverites to move into your region.
I hope you can learn from Vancouver's planning and development mistakes and avoid the severe affordability crisis we have experienced in your increasingly attractive city and region.
Michael Geller, Vancouver