The Northern B.C. Housing Study, presented during a forum at UNBC last Friday, shouldn't worry municipal governments and housing developers too much.
If anything, it should have them celebrating a little bit, especially in the short term.
That's not how the report was released, however. Marleen Morris, co-director of the Community Development Institute, sounded the alarm, tying "a good supply of first-rate homes" to the ability of the region to attract people to relocate to central and northern B.C. for work.
On the surface, that may be true but there are other factors that override that simplified description. While nearly two-thirds of the single-family homes in Prince George are more than 35 years old and new housing is relatively scarce, that older housing stock is also holding prices down, making the city even more attractive a destination for people looking to move here while keeping existing residents here.
Furthermore, many of these older homes are in established neighbourhoods, like the Crescents, with big trees and plenty of personality and character. Inspired by home renovation reality TV shows, both current residents and newcomers are scooping up older homes and modernizing them with the help of busy local renovation contractors.
The study went on to argue that the new housing products coming on the market aren't right for future demands, that there are too many four and five bedroom single-family houses going up and not enough smaller and multi-family options. Only 13 per cent of Prince George's housing stock is made up of apartments, the study found. Yet the street reality, at least here, doesn't match that observation.
Many local empty nesters are staying in their larger family homes, happy to have guest (or niece/nephew/grandchild) bedrooms, hobby rooms and more storage space. What was once little Jill or Johnny's cozy, little bedroom is now a walk-in clothes and shoes closet or a private gym. Basements are being turned from hangouts for teenagers into entertainment areas, with home theatres and bars. Pool tables and card tables are back in a big way.
Other empty nesters are turning those basements into suites, either for their adult children, their aging parents or just for an extra revenue stream to pay for annual winter retreats to Mexico and retirement savings top ups.
Meanwhile, young singles and couples with the cash are scooping up these older, larger Prince George homes, especially the well-maintained and updated ones, because they're affordable, they're great hangout spots for the whole gang and they signal living large to friends and family. The millennials may put kids in those bedrooms one day but that's not the primary reason they're buying those houses.
The study projected Prince George's population will decrease by two per cent during the next 20 years while the number of seniors will soar by 74 per cent. Morris and others worry about adequate housing and other social amenities for these seniors, forgetting that baby boomers have never acted their age and they certainly won't in retirement, if the oldest of the boomers that turned 70 this year are any indication.
As a demographic bloc, they have been fiercely independent since their teens and will not mellow in their golden years. Their drivers licences will say 70 but they will live as if they are 20 or 30 years younger, as active as their bodies and their wallets permit. These people will not suddenly take an interest in bird watching, stamp collecting and catching up on their reading. Unlike their parents, they will be busy checking off items on their bucket lists while increasing their volunteer work load and family commitments. They will most certainly not be sitting at home, waiting for the kids to call.
And if they are at home, growing indications point to their preference for their bigger home and yard, where they can do stuff that makes them feel good, from nursing fruit trees to making homemade wine to indulging their artistic side in the home studio that was once a child's bedroom.
Health care, accommodation and transportation will be growing issues in Prince George as the population continues to age. Those issues, however, shouldn't be seen solely as part of an impending crisis but as opportunities for transformation and future success.
-- Managing editor Neil Godbout
