Housing in Boom Town: The Alberta Real Estate Market
March 1, 2007 · By Aaron Unruh
Commenter Brenda shares here own experience with Ralph Klein’s unregulated economic “boom”:
I am a single mother who received a notice that the 4-plex I am living in will be sold and that I have to vacate by Aug. 1/07. Approximately 2 weeks later I received another notice that the rent will increase by $200.00 by June 1, 2007. I cannot afford to pay the $200.00 increase and have been looking for another place to rent in the Morinville, St. Albert, & Edmonton area. There is nothing affordable, so I am forced to look at moving out the province…Where do we go? I have a decent job and will have to give it up and move where I may end up working in a fast food restaraunt. I am now a hospital clerk and have health benefits and job security, but no place to live.
Put her together with middle-classers in places like Calgary who have been priced out of the real estate market by rising prices and the question emerges: Who exactly is now benefitting from this boom?
Quebec
Why is it that people seem to think these days that life must be easy, and if it isn’t, the government should darned well step in?
Life has always been this way. If you can’t afford to live somewhere, move somehwhere else. If you can’t get work, move to where the work is. Yes, it is sad that people can’t afford to work at low paying jobs and pay rent, but either the market will correct by raising wages, or the workers will correct by coming up with living arrangements that allow them to afford their accomodations.
In the old days, people who couldn’t afford their apartment or house lived in rooming houses, or had roommates. Why is this not an option?
I too am a single motther I live in Fort mcmurray. Last year my 10 year marriage ended and i have been living a nightmare ever since. When we were together we had trouble making ends meet but we managed to get a mortgage on a 30 year old trailer. my ex husband and I are both teachers. i lost my job soon after our marriage ended and i am now on unemployment.
I am struggling to keep my kids, I have no support here and i cannot afford to live here. My ex has moved in with parents and is still working. I am still in the trailer but everyday I am faced with creditors threatenng to take our home. I want to leave Fort Mcmurray because i can’t see how i can make a living here. It is fine for families that are working in the oil patch but on a teachers salery it is impossible to make a go of it. I am fighting to be allowed to leave this town and go back to NFLd where it will be easier to make a living.
My living conditions right now are poor. I have no running water, my pipes froze several times this winter, I’ve had therm repaired 5 times and now the plumber says all he can do is replace everything, which I can not afford.
People tell me I have to get out find a high paying job and find some way to stay here. My dream has always been to teach. One of my kids has special needs and this past year I have dedicated all of my emotional energy on his well being. I pray every day that I will be allowed to move closer to family and friends but I am forced to live in thes substandard conditions expected to start over alone when It is a struggle everyday just to clean and provide for my kids. I am emotionally exhausted, I am dealing with 10 years of abuse that seems to have no bearing on me leaving with my children.
Hang in there.
Personally, I don’t understand how anyone not living in the oil patch can afford to live in Fort McMurray. It might be a good idea to get out.
i wish the powers that be would realize that to. I feel like i am stuck in limbo and doomed to a life of poverty.
I am sorry to hear of your challenges. My advice would be to try your hands on something else ( if the opportunity arises). Try teh wood buffallo temps. I know that they help with part time positions in the plants.
Lastly, hold on closely to the Lord. He loves you dearly even if it does not feel so. Hardships make us stronger and God helps us pass through them triumphantly. Like the poem “Footprints in the sand”
Footprints in the Sand
One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord.
Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.
In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.
Sometimes there were two sets of footprints,
other times there were one set of footprints.
This bothered me because I noticed
that during the low periods of my life,
when I was suffering from
anguish, sorrow or defeat,
I could see only one set of footprints.
So I said to the Lord,
“You promised me Lord,
that if I followed you,
you would walk with me always.
But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life
there have only been one set of footprints in the sand.
Why, when I needed you most, you have not been there for me?â€
The Lord replied,
“The times when you have seen only one set of footprints in the sand,
is when I carried you.â€
Mary Stevenson
Agree with the Foot prints in the sand. Ten years I chose my onw things in this world. Recentlty I persued the Lord I know as a child that feeling of fuffilment was only there when i was near him. The prays began and the lords wispering guidense was still there. I am only twenty five with two children and a sleep disorder called Narcolepsy. My life partner is now addicted to oxycotin and each month his scrip runs out he withrawls. The Lord has given me the guidence strength and support to get out and start again but this time fallowing him, not this world. How amazing fallow Jesus and walk in his blessings.
Jesus won’t pay your rent, though.
Alberta Housing Market Bubble Is Bursting.
Calgary housing price is almost equivalent to that of the Silicon Valley in California. But, the Silicon Valley doesn’t have more land available while Alberta has as much land as Texas. There are more and more new listings in Calgary everyday(I saw 12 newly listed houses in two short cross streets in northwest Calgary). With the strong tie between Canada economy and US economy and a strong Canadian dollar, the Alberta housing market bubble is bursting now.