Editor:
I have read a couple of 'opinions' from what seems like entitled New Westerners.
One person wants an oasis of whatever, and the other extreme person calling people who owns actual houses millionaire "old-timers" who have lived here for "years and years."
The oasis letter did not bother me, and I just wrote it off as delusional. However, the person with the opinion about people living here years and years — suggesting we should not be here after a few years and move now that our house is worth more? What might be expected of a family that that can afford a house here and wants to raise their family here?
We have three kids, kinda need a house; kids go to local schools, and we all enjoy living here. We moved here due to the central location within the Lower Mainland, reasonable (comparatively to other areas), small-town feel, nice neighbours, nice street, house has a suite to help out with money. Kind of a no-brainer if you can afford it.
Yes, that's right, I said it. How did we afford it? We have worked our butts off, not just one job; at times I had three jobs including my career, pizza delivery and a bartender on weekends. My wife picked up extra contracts in the U.S. and drove down to work three-month contracts for two years to get ahead: a downpayment.
Then after some equity build-up we bought a house in Seattle, then another in Calgary as rentals — to what? Get rich? No ... to rent to tenants. Some screwed us out of thousands.
We eventually sold them to help pay down a little on this mortgage. Anyway, you get the point. We did not feel entitled to live in New West because we liked it.
Millionaires? Sure, so what? We sell our house to move where? They are all expensive. If we want to move "up," it's damn expensive as well. We are no better off than if the house was half the value as long as others were equally reduced.
Would I move to London, knowing it's expensive, decide I like it, then complain if I moved there? Tell other Londoners they need to move, they have lived there too long?
Sounds like an entitled person who feels "old" New Westerners owe him their land. Move on, entitled person.
What would I do? And I have a couple nephews that have — move to Calgary, and buy something. Wait a few years, buy a rental, work more, play the stock market with fingers crossed, then look to move here! But by then you may like Calgary, have a few friends, kids in school, house values up, and you may have an entitled idiot writing the local paper that you should move. Your land should be his.
Ralph Tallen
