Powder in Paradise
One of the main reasons we moved to the Comox Valley was the fact that it had a medium sized ski hill with some challenging terrain and a lot of snow. When skiing at Mt Washington before we moved here, I noticed that there was a ski racing program and that the kids were all good skiers. I guess I assumed that a smaller hill on an island that gets tons of snow would not have enough people interested in ski racing, but they did and it turns out that it is an awesome program. I should note that I and my siblings all ski raced as children, through college and University. I loved it and was happy to see that apparently there was great coaching at the mountain, because these kids ripped. When we moved here almost eight years ago, the first thing we did was get ready to put the kids in the Nancy Greene program at the Mt. Washington Ski club. The kids have been in the club since and every year I am more impressed with the coaching and dedication of the club executive.
This year my 11 year old was making the big jump from Nancy Greene to K1. He has been working with the same coach for years ( Burke) who has moved up with the kids as they age. It is a fantastic system that has allowed for a great relationship between himself and his kids. Not only is he a great skier and fun, he keeps them behaved, respectful and in control. A parent could not ask for a better situation. The club held the first series of races for the year and Mt Washington, was as always, generous with allocating a great hill for the GS and Slalom courses. While I have always volunteered for the races in the past and have foreran a few times ( s7 ‘s on a slalom course?) this time I had a child competing. It brought back so many memories of my own childhood and all the great times I had skiing with family and friends, I found myself overwhelmed by emotion on a few occasions. Ski racing is hard business. It takes a huge amount of volunteer effort and parent commitment. It is a challenging sport mentally and physically. It is also a very rewarding game that I feel very fortunate to have played. Because of the dedication of parents and club executives such Paul Francisty, Steve Frame, Terry Anderson and Troy/Kerri Perras and all of the Marmots, the Comox Valley is home to an incredible resource for ski training.
Creating a world cup ski racer does not have to be the objective. The coaches of the MtWashington ski club have been successfully creating a life long love of skiing for over twenty years and is a tradition that is becoming a multi generational experience as the the children of the program have grown and are introducing the sport to their kids.
When it is pouring in the valley, cold miserable winds are whipping and everyone cries over the weather, the skier smiles. Being able to get exercise, socialise and rip deep powder is certainly, in my opinion , one of the best things about this valley. My youngest is the third child through the Nancy Greene program and I am of the opinion that there is no better way to develop skiers then through that program . The coaches are some of the best skiers on the mountain and many of them competed at a very high ( FIS) level. They bring a youthful energy that keeps the kids going. To compliment the younger coaches there are also some senior coaches who have more experience and do an outstanding job of building great ski technique. I would argue that the long time coaches are the cornerstone of these young skiers skill development. Of course the proof is in the pudding and all the kids that come out of the ski club programs whether it is Nancy Greene or Kinder have great stance, technique and a love of the sport.
I wanted to write this particular blog as a shout out to new families in the valley or to people whose kids are just starting to ski to let them know that there is a great program available to them. It may have a slightly larger dollar and time commitment then mountain programs but, in my estimation, has much better value. Don’t let the idea of ski racing intimidate, its really about building strong ski skills and a life long love of the sport. There is also a great component of team building and camaraderie that these kids share as they grow up skiing steeps/powder and racing together. I would encourage anyone to contact me via phone or email or go to the clubs site http://www.mtwashingtonskiclub.com/ to get more information. There will be an opportunity to try out the club for a day this spring and I encourage anyone who wants there kids to become great skiers to give it a shot. While skiing and quality ski instruction may not be the least expensive recreation it’ still cheaper then say ….a boat. I was fortunate enough to have parents who felt that if sacrifices needed to be made so that there kids could have the lifelong gift of skiing then they would be made and dammit I’m going to do the same. If you view skiing as a gift then you can pretty much eliminate buying any toys or nasty video games for the kids. Give them skiing and nothing else, toys and nasty video games are fleeting, skiing is forever.
treat yourself to some real estate for Christmas
It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Ski season begins. I thought I would drop a quick note about the market and how much fun it is to buy real estate for Christmas. Bargains abound and if not, writing low offers is fine if you can close before Christmas. This is the time if year when many sellers have been on the market for an extended period of time and if it is slightly challenged and vacant it might offer a great deal. There is something about a clean offer that closes before the end of the year that gets sellers thinking about accepting offers that do not meet their earlier expectations. Here is a great breakdown of the current market RLP market conditions report Dec . One of the handy things about having Gregg Hart as my manager is that he takes the time to analyze the market so that we may share it with you. You will see that the numbers are not great, prices are up slightly but sales numbers are down. There remains a large amount of inventory and it appear that certain segments of the market remain weak, over 500k. It remains a buyers market, although is suspect that family homes and duplexes that are well priced for their condition and are priced under the 400k mark will see increased sales this spring.
Next is my pitch for a buyer(s) who would be interested in being part of a pilot episode for newest tv show. That’s right I’m going back to show business. The most popular reality tv shows seem to be real estate and cooking so I have decided to combine my expert knowledge and passion for both and shoot the first episode of “Beaters and Banquets” with some lucky souls who are prepared to sign a long winded release. Details to follow but essentially I will help a buyer(s) with finding a renovation project and then will walk the viewer through how to prepare a banquet for for friends and family . In this case though it will be for the buyers friends and family.
Radically balanced
In last weeks blog I used a term that I am still trying to find a definitive definition for ” radical balance”. The idea has originated in the polarised politics of BC, Vancouver island and the Comox Valley. I hold a degree in Political Science and have for as long as I can remember studied and contemplated the world political and I am absolutely confounded by the logic of our local Politics. I refuse to give up and fall back on cynicism so I would like to propose a new approach : ” radical balance” . I am going to make the radical suggestion that balance can be achieved between left and right , between sustainability and economic growth at the municipal level. Balance is something that is sorely lacking in much of the political or policy discourse. There is much hand wringing over water meters, homeless shelters and the level of taxation. How we spend our tax dollars and the implications of staff and council decisions are often overlooked until it is too late .
Let’s take a look at a couple of issues and see if we can’t find a radically balanced solution.
Affordable housing is a major concern for residents of the valley, and that in itself is a reflection of a number of other issues. Homes are more affordable when there is a strong income and a reasonable supply. We are a large valley of relatively affordable land with lots of water and transportation infrastructure ( roads). The land is almost exclusively held in private hands. Over the past twenty years as Courtenay and Comox have evolved there has been a sprawl outwards, but due to the low population the physical size of that sprawl has been limited. Over the last twenty years the price of lot has gone from 15000 $ to over 150,000$. The taxation ( direct and indirect) upon a developer to create single family lots now averages over fifty thousand dollars. In the same time period we have lost the traditional economic model of the natural resource sector. We have replaced it with a retiree service economy which does not offer the same level of wages in the private sector as the previous resource extraction economy . So we have rising home prices and lowering wages. Hence a lack of affordable housing. Housing in not affordable when you do not have the economic resources to support yourself or your family in what would be deemed a reasonable manner. I believe we need an emergency shelter for the homeless and those citizens who are the cusp of homelessness or who find themselves in a temporary situation that requires them to find alternative housing. But I also believe that it is a small part of the overall solution to creating a better housing environment for the citizens of the valley. Here are some ideas for how we can start to create more affordable housing.
There has been a great deal of discussion regarding sustainability and the reduction of our footprint. These are very positive ideas, and I believe will come to fruit when real effort is put into creating municipal regulations that will foster densification , not the lip service I have been listening to for the last seven years.
Make all illegal suites legal in all areas currently zoned for suites or duplexes. If they can do it in Victoria and Vancouver, surely we can manage. The city of Courtenay needs to make suites affordable for the home owner so that they will actually… like build one. The City’s current obsession of vacating all non conforming suites completely defies the concept of affordable housing/sustainability, which spews from the other side of their mouth. It’s time for the city to stop punishing people who have got suites in their homes. Leave up to the owner and his insurance company to dicker over the requirements of the suite , not the city. Feels like job creation for a slow building department as opposed to staff attending to the needs of it’s community.
Lane way homes in the Downtown core is another easy solution to provide affordable rental units and helps homeowners keep their homes affordable. Around the world it works, why not here? It would provide new humans to purchase goods from the downtown core, would reduce commuting and encourage densification which is at the heart of the sustainability movement.
Accept reality affordable housing should be situated where the land is affordable, right? There is a large lot owned by the city on Piercy that acts as municipal yard. The area is home to a number of multi unit complexes and is close to the downtown core. It’s time to move that function from that land and put it on land that is more appropriate a little further out of town. It could be agreat location for an eight story complex that could be affordable and sustainable.
Eight stories for the many seniors who are in older homes that they no longer want to maintain. Lets create a regulatory environment that encourages a developer to construct multi unit housing where it makes sense ( cents). If there was an affordable alternative to remaining in their older homes we would see more seniors opting into multi unit structures in the downtown core. The result would be a greater supply of single family homes for young families.
Right… we need young families back to that jobs problem again. If we had an abundance of jobs that attracted a youing demographic we could shift our elder to denser housing and move the young families into affordable homes because the seniors would have an affordable condo to move to and there would be a healthy supply of family homes.
Jobs it seems I am back to the jobs thing again. There are lots of regulatory controls municipal government can do to encourage job creation. Tax incentives, accessing grants for new industry and taking an active role ( no I mean like actually active) in pursuing industry. We have an economic development society whose sole focus seems to be on agriculture and tourism , yet no one has created a conversation with the large forestry companies who own the majority of the land in the valley and how we could utilise that land for agriculture. Not one penny of public money has been spent on mountain bike trails or their promotion, when we live in one of the top three bike areas in the country. Yet there appears to be millions for a water tower of a tourist centre. Time for some real economic development.
Local government can
- make development less expensive and therefore housing more affordable
- can rezone lands such as Maple Pool campground to become a location for a homeless shelter and affordable housing
- can create tax incentives to attract new industry ( jobs) and use their land base it controls to develop in a sustainable manner.
- not restrict itself to the recommendations of staff and special interest groups who are only working from a position of self interest.
- avoid left/ right positioning and view each issue for what it is.
- can lead this community into a new century of health , wealth and wisdom.
For this community to move forward the left must accept that development can be good and the right needs to learn that not every strip mall, housing development or business opportunity desirable.
Balance needs to be achieved in our outlook if we want to save parklands and create jobs. If we want to continue with our current level of taxation then businesses need to prosper, which they cannot do if there is no new industry. Without customers the shop goes outta bizness and then all ya got is an empty buildin’ with high taxes. That’s the lose lose situation I believe we are starin’ at until we find some balance.
I will be attending the election debate tonight in the hopes that there may be one candidate that gets some of these ideas. So far I remain skeptical.
I did say no politics …..but
I swore I was going to keep my radical politics of balance out of this blog, but I find myself so dissatisfied with the lack of real debate or community vision that I feel a need to step into the ring. Which may or may not find support amongst my international readers and may hurt my chances of selling you a house. So be it, every now and then you actually have to stand up for something you believe in. The things that I believe in are far the most part ignored or not supported, so therefore I must be right.
A little background; my Area (A) has no election this year. The local Director (as well as all other rural Directors) has been acclaimed. In Area A there is much to be done and it saddens me that there is so much cynicism that no one could be bothered to run against a candidate who may have done an adequate job of overseeing staff reports, but has actually accomplished very little of substance for our Area. Hornby and Denman have received some help with beach access and some parks have been established in other rural areas, but not ours. We have no recycling, new parks, trail protection or infrastructure advancement of any kind whatsoever. Yet my taxes have doubled in three years. I should be marching in the street, burning effigies.
Hornby and Denman only pay taxes for recycling / rubbish removal, recreation, parks and would also be taxed for Island Library services. Planning and Engineering are dealt with by the Islands Trust. Yet they get to vote for a Director who is responsible for voting on all aspects of the Regional District. They essentially have representation without full taxation. The inverse of the classic “taxation without representation”. Hornby and Denman Island have one of the highest per capita voter turnouts in Canada at all levels of elections and it is almost completely homogeneous in its voting pattern. So in Area A it has become apparent that if you are not the preferred candidate of Denman or Hornby (Denby), then you cannot win, despite the fact that they do pay for any of the planning or engineering expenses and will never be part of a regional water or sewer system.
I love Hornby and think that Denman is also lovely, but they should not hold the power on who is going to represent me on issues of planning and future infrastructure needs. And that is how it goes in the Comox Valley. Everywhere I look, I see issues that baffle me, planning decisions, spending decisions and engineering decisions that appear to make no sense. We have 19 different councillors and 4 different mayors ( if you count the regional district chair which you sure as heck should) for a population of under 70,000 people). This is madness. If we want to be a community that cares about the homeless, the under housed and the under employed, we need to be able to produce jobs that create a tax base inside an efficient local governance structure.
We have got a do this for the kids. The traditional economic formula for rural BC and good Small Town Livin’ has been broken and we have evolved into a economy of service to retirees and tourists or of tax paid government support (military, education , health care) and that is not sufficient. The private sector is the key to developing well paid jobs, so that housing is affordable. A community that is economically active is able to support the arts, amateur sport and the disenfranchised. If municipal governance was efficient in it’s delivery of services and accrued more taxation through it’s commercial taxation it would have more in the kitty.
I have a client that has a full duplex on a cul de sac near the college that have “non conforming” ( illegal ) suites in them. They are cute, tidy and fairly priced. He is a model landlord, his handyman changes the light bulbs. There have been no noise/parking complaints and the area is full of illegal suites. The city is monitoring those households that pay for extra garbage tickets. The city of Courtenay has turned my clients life into a nightmare because of his suites. It appears the building inspectors don’t have enough new construction work so they have turned their eyes on the taxpayer. Without suites like these. there would be no affordable housing for students attending North Island College, there are no dorms and Downtown Courtenay is 5 km away. The situation is even more insane when you consider that this is the same government body that is prepared to pay 2.5 million dollars for an emergency shelter. Two different users and situations, except one costs the taxpayer and the other does not.
The pure hypocrisy of so many decisions has created a jaded and cynical electorate on both sides of the divide. I will not get into left and right politics, because local politics should always be of the middle, of what makes the most common sense and is the most cost effective. When municipal politics and governance is an industry, we as tax payers can no longer afford it. It is high time we looked at the overall governance structure of this Valley.
We live in a paradise that has the potential to be a model small town community, but lip service is worthless and getting tired. If we truly believe in addressing the issues of marginal housing and emergency shelters, lets make sure we do it in the appropriate place and with the right budget. Lets make sure we have an understanding of the objectives, which should be to eliminate homelessness and to foster an environment where every citizen can find a place to call home.
If we really care about tourism and agribusiness lets actually protect the mountain bike trails and have a conversation about land usage and ALR zoning that is reflective of the modern realities of farming. We are surrounded by massive tracts of logged land that has amazing potential. Instead we poo poo any change to anything.
If we really want to be rich in Arts and Culture we need to help foster an environment where a living can be made. How is possible that not one candidate, from any part of the spectrum , has realised that local governments can do much to attract industry and position themselves as desirable areas for technology industries.
If we believe in knowledge based economies as being superior to the traditional destroy and pillage economies, what can we do to get Sage Hills University moving forward, How can we make the North Island College a University. What is the holdback on moving forward? I think I know the answer but am afraid to acknowledge it. History shows us that change is inevitable, how we manage that change will determine the kind of place we will live in.
Please go out and vote, for who I do not know. But lets hope that as change occurs, there are those who will put the interest of the community ahead of themselves. Perhaps the election will produce some candidates of vision, as of yet only Erik Ericsson in Courtenay seems to get any of these concepts. Dan Jackson from Comox is the only candidate who seems to get that we should be doing what we do for the kids and that without economic growth they will disappear.
I hope that the debates will produce ideas and vision. Please push this blog around, forward, like, re-twitter or post on power poles. But lets get talking, left and right. Division will give us nothing but strip malls and anger. Anyone ready to compromise for Vinyards in clear cuts with mountain bike trails between them. That is a beautiful vision that requires much compromise. Anyone out there?
harvest time
It has been too long since I have put out a new blog, but Small town Livin has been keeping me busy. Whether it is getting all the wood needed for the winter, picking chanterelle mushrooms,plums, blackberries, apples or hazel nuts, it’s busy . And of course there is work.
One sentence market update- If you are looking for a bargain or can list a home at a bargain price, there is a deal waiting to happen.
Every year I set a series goals for harvesting local food that I can use throughout the year. Some years I am more successful then others. This year has been pretty good. I even managed to bring Chanterelles and Scallops back to montreal for Thanksgiving. I try to harvest enough chanterelles for pizza throughout the year and have recently made a vast amount of a green tomato pickle/relish. Small town living means eating great local food throughout the year, if you can find the time and energy to harvest. There are great deals on all kinds of produce and even my limited gardening skills produce large amounts of oregano, sage and tyme. Harvesting your own apples and turning them into crumble is very gratifying. Our chickens are laying eggs and an omelette with fresh chanterelles is pretty fine living, breakfast or dinner.
Every year I swear I am going to accomplish more then I ever do and I fantasize about doing nothing but harvesting and preserving food. Maybe I am reading to much Game of Thrones, but I love the idea of a larder full of food preserved in different ways. We got five chickens and after much effort and stress they are producing beautiful eggs. Taking them from chicks to laying has been a great learning experience and now I want to get a pig or some goats. I dream of prosciutto hanging in a meat shed.
Pretty much every day could be spent on some chore if you chose to can, pickle, jam, freeze, dry or bake. At times it’s bit overwhelming and makes me long for the days of being a country squire with nothing other then the county jam competition on my mind…… Anyway reality calls and soccer practice is in half an hour. But it is possible to achieve a slower pace of life and greater appreciation for day to day living . By involving yourself in producing some of the food that you and your family eat has ancient appeal and satisfaction. Living in a place that is near wood, well priced produce and wild produce makes it a little easier to do. Next year I am freezing corn. I meant to get to it this year but…. and hunting, I think I am ready
