Nine street is a street with houses from the 1900s. Called Brow Of The Hill, this enclave of houses is charming and the houses are incredibly liveable.
What’s the difference between owning a house and living in one? Owning a house is about which house will appreciate in value and living in a house is about which house will provide safe and comfortable accommodation to the people who live in it. Owning a house is about showing off your status. Living in a house is about all the activities that you have to do. In one vibe, the size and location and the real estate value matter. In the other, walkability, view and lifestyle matters.
Instead of the big box North American vibe, New Westminster is all about small, quaint and friendly. Its European inspired architecture and quaint little shops and businesses feel like I’ve stepped back in time to another world, where people lived. The meaning of life wasn’t about getting richer but about living. There are many many small shops, quaint artistic businesses in the neighbourhood. There is a definite sense of time being slower here.
Since New Westminster isn’t cool–like South Vancouver or West Vancouver, or even Coquitlam there hasn’t been much speculative real estate ‘investing’. Investing is a word that means tending and caring, giving time and not just buying something and sitting around. In modern times, the word investing is used in its monetary sense only–but that doesn’t create value for the whole community. In the long run it tears our common ground of being. And this is a great loss for humanity and the planet.
Beautiful British Columbia attracts people because of its prettiness. The taxes from high real estate prices keeps the provincial government going. So what’s the harm if international investors play around with real estate?
It is the same as eating a sugar cookie for dinner. It isn’t good in the long run.
Ninth street seems far away from things like greed. It seems far away from fear and get rich agendas of developers and over friendly banks and mortgage companies. Its trees, colourful houses and little cats exist untroubled by ideas of money and survival.
I feel blessed that I found this place to live in for now– it feels like an oasis…a place to rest, recuperate and gather my resources for the next phase of the journey home.
All I know is that we are all children of this planet who have something valuable to give to society and deserve equal access to the gifts of the planet.
Behind The Veil 