There’s a reason you can’t afford to live in your hometown: reader

April 13, 2016 · 0 Comments

Recently I read a letter titled “Unable to afford to live where I grew up” which was so interesting and upsetting it made me want to write this letter.
The writer, Daniel, addressed his displeasure in finding out that the housing market of Aurora, his long-time hometown, is too expensive to afford.
Can you please remind him that there are not too many recent university graduates finding secure and well-paying jobs? Despite his education, he seems naive and oblivious to why he cannot afford a house or even an apartment in Aurora.
If he was ever curious, did he question why he can walk on the streets alone even in the middle of night and not be in fear? Aurora’s low crime rate is such a desirable quality to have in a town (especially near Toronto), many people to want to live and raise a family in a town like ours.
Aurora is a small town, so large amounts of people wanting to move to up here because of attractive qualities, like the low-crime rate, the small limit of houses (supply) in our town can be a quite competitive market.
My parents have lived and moved three times all within the town’s borders and my experience living through it was hasty because a house could be on the market for a week and was already sold. My driving instructor saw the for sale sign in the front of my house and bluntly asked me how much my house was selling and how much my parents bought it for because in such a hot market like Aurora it always perks everyone’s interest.
I am only 20, but I realize that with a billionaire residing in his Palace of Versailles-looking building in our Town and the boom of homes and commercial real-estate in the last 10 years, isn’t it kinda obvious that our Town is affluent? It says that in the first sentence on Aurora’s Wikipedia page.
There are nice public and Catholic schools in almost every neighbourhood, as well as plenty of jobs for teens that it is no wonder Aurora is as rich and desirable as it is.
Also, Daniel, don’t expect much luxury in your 20s.
I live in Peterborough now and I am at least grateful to find a place under $500-a-month in a safe district. Aurora is meant for new parents and families wanting to settle into a safe and comfortable neighbourhood, but if you are keen on buying a home here, then I suggest setting aside a good lump of money each month in a savings account.
No one is going to hand you a home for $200,000 anymore, so just save money and in the next 10 years you might have enough to buy in Aurora. Your argument about how your income is less than what your house might cost is a reality, but that is why mortgages exist.
With your opportunity of earning a well-paying and secure career right before you even graduate university is a rare but amazing feat. Please do not sulk about affordable housing, but be happy to now have the funds to lay a foundation for your future.
Considering there are many families who can barely afford affordable housing, let alone sending their children to post-secondary, or the many recent graduates who may face many years until they can secure at least an entry level job in their field, the problem of affordable housing is much less a problem to you and more for them.

Vanessa Purvis
Peterborough