Whenever I see a new word (manufactured jawbreaker!) I am reminded of the term - floccinaucinihilipilification, at 29 letters, said by some to be the longest word in the English language. Meaning, ironically - “the action or habit of estimating as worthless”! Go figure!! The Latin (root) scholars would be able to pronounce – all others will have to hear my podcast to see if I can do it!  But what does this newer “buzz-word” mean?

Simply ‘making more dense’ or in the real estate sense more human beings living in each square mile. The obvious question is “why?” – A few points; because people want to live in a desirable area such as Vancouver (or the North Shore to be specific) and these high demand locations are running out of that scarce commodity – space. Again, and I make no apology for my overplayed theme, we are back to Supply and Demand. A quick, ‘related’ diversion and I’ll come back to Demand.

Mayor Sam Sullivan is concentrating efforts on the term Eco-density (simply a coexistence with the local ecology in a more concentrated way. The Vancouver City Director of Planning, Brent Toderian explains Sullivan’s message as “whatever will convince people to love higher density”. A far cry from the lyrics of the early 20th century song – “Give me land, lots of land and the starry skies above…”! He went on to say that a mere 11% of Vancouver’s land is currently used for multiple residences. Can we, will we adapt? It seems that we will need to do so if we wish to coexist in a paradise such as Greater Vancouver (or in our sub paradises of North Vancouver and West Vancouver).

A recent Vancouver Sun article reinforced the “living in a smaller space” trend by highlighting the fact that “Boomers” are driving the demand to downsize. Strangely enough, this demand will make many smaller homes (1/2 duplexes, multi-bedroom apts) more costly than larger “family” homes geographically further out. The point is that these “wealthy” boomers are going to be demanding the prime smaller dwellings and unless the market makes provision for an increased supply of these – the price of the existing stock will surge.  So, potential retirees, this is a “buyer beware” that you should heed!