風蕭蕭_Frank
以文會友
多倫多陷入危機：這個原因導致中產被團滅，隻剩窮人
據National Post報道，多倫多、溫哥華注定要失去中產階級......如果不盡快改變現狀，最後恐將隻剩下百萬富翁和極度貧困者。
中產階級的消失直接關係到城市中幾乎所有其他危機。更糟的後果包括犯罪、藥物濫用和無家可歸。而後，關鍵行業出現人才流失和勞動力短缺，這進一步刺激了更廣泛的經濟衰退，使市中心核心區域空置和交通削減，循環往複......
《舊金山紀事報》對"厄運循環"進行了如下定義：一種負麵發展導致另一種負麵發展，進而使第一個問題變得更加嚴重。這是一個惡性循環。
這個術語已經成為總結舊金山經濟快速下滑的一種簡潔方式。在那裏，高犯罪率、日益嚴重的無家可歸者問題、高昂的房地產、普遍的藥物濫用、交通衰退、空置辦公室和企業紛紛逃離該地區等問題相互交織，情況越來越糟，看不到盡頭......
從溫哥華到多倫多，甚至聖約翰，加拿大的城市都應該注意到，類似的問題開始困擾他們的城市中心，並相互加劇，形成他們自己的"厄運循環"的開端。
像舊金山一樣，加拿大城市的衰落始於中產階級"空心化"。隨著市中心繼續急劇分化為極端富有和極端貧窮，這種衰退的速度和強度也在不斷加快。
為了避免像舊金山一樣注定的命運，加拿大政治家必須解決這個問題的根源，並阻止中產階級從城市中大規模流失。唯一的方法是恢複住房市場的可負擔性。
舊金山是全球許多最富有的公司的所在地，並見證了最快速的房地產價格上漲。該城市擁有28.5萬名百萬富翁，629名千萬富翁和63名億萬富翁，是美國所有城市中數量最多的。
然而，舊金山也是美國收入不平等程度最高的城市。僅8個家庭的財富總和就超過該城市底層50%的人口。約1%的人口，大約38,000名居民處於無家可歸狀態，這個數字與全美平均0.2%的無家可歸人口比例相比，是一個驚人的數字。
多年來，由於舊金山缺乏中等收入的住房，中產階級家庭因無法負擔高房價而紛紛逃離這座城市。大量老師、護士以及其他基本工人因買不起房而離開。
現在，加拿大的城市也麵臨同樣的情況。
加拿大高昂的房地產價格和"缺失中產階級"住房的匱乏，正在以越來越快的速度趕走中產階級家庭、年輕專業人士和基本工人。在過去幾年裏，房價的飆升使城市財富差距達到了前所未有的高度。
那些留下來的人發現他們被逼到了極限。一個令人不安的統計數字顯示，每日麵包食品銀行的用戶中有33%是全職工作的人。
在過去幾年裏，加拿大城市中產階級的崩潰幾乎無法忽視。實際上，這種情況已經持續了十多年。現在唯一的問題是，我們是否能夠組織一個長期的厄運循環的發生。
或許美國在沒有一個健康的舊金山的情況下仍然可以蓬勃發展，但如果溫哥華、多倫多或其他重要經濟引擎城市衰落，我們難以證明加拿大仍然可以繁榮。相反，更容易想象到的是，局部的厄運循環將演變成席卷性的厄運漩渦。
我們必須通過保護加拿大各地城市及其周邊地區所剩不多的中產階級來阻止這個循環，而這要從解決住房問題開始。
接下來，讓我們一起來看看中產們都是怎麽說的：
"超出要價出售應該是非法的。設定一個公平的價格，並將其作為上限。房子是用來住的，不是用來發財的。"
"絕對的。我幾年前就說過這個觀點。我希望當我們談論經濟適用房時，能夠把租房者包括在內。"
"更多的移民、國際學生和臨時外籍工人爭搶有限的住房資源並沒有起到幫助的作用。"
"令人費解的是，在多倫多和溫哥華，仍有一些人看不到中產階級滅絕的問題。但請放心......這種情況很快就不會再存在。"
"與此同時，加拿大也應該停止如此猛烈的移民，直到我們能夠真正容納所有這些新來者。前幾天我看到加拿大的人口已經達到了4000萬，真是讓我大吃一驚，因為在幾年前的最後一次人口普查中，人口才3300萬。我對移民沒有意見，但當一個國家的基礎設施無法承受如此快速的增長時，我們必須放慢速度，直到能夠承受為止！"
“如果你擁有任何可攜帶的資格證書，隻要離開大多倫多和溫哥華，你就可以給自己一個不錯的加薪機會。隨著這些城市失去中產階級的專業人員和技工，在城市中進行基本事務將變得非常困難和昂貴。你將隻剩下房地產投資者和大量的外來服務工人。"
"更多的政府、更多的監管和更多的稅收並不能恢複我們的城市。如果沒有常識和克製，政府就會成為一個吸收財富而非創造財富的海綿。"
"為什麽不集中精力解決其他自身造成的問題呢？如濫用藥物、猖獗的犯罪和無家可歸者問題？我認為如果不解決這些明顯的問題，中產階級不會很快回來。"
對此，你怎麽看？
來源鏈接：
Sabrina Maddeaux: Toronto, Vancouver doomed as they chase away the middle class
If something doesn't change soon, all that will be left is millionaires and the very poor
The San Francisco Chronicle defines it as such: “Doom loop (noun) — A scenario in which one negative development causes another negative development, which then makes the first problem worse. A vicious cycle.”
They would know. The term has become a succinct way of summing up San Francisco’s rapid downward spiral, where problems including high crime, soaring homelessness, exorbitant real estate, widespread drug use, crumbling transit, empty offices and businesses fleeing the area feed into one another, making each other worse and worse with no end in sight.
Canadian cities from Vancouver to Toronto, and even Saint John, should take note as similar problems begin to plague their urban centres and exacerbate one another, forming the beginnings of their own doom loops.
Like San Francisco, Canadian cities’ decline began with the hollowing out of their middle classes. As downtowns continue to divide sharply into extreme haves and have nots, the pace and intensity of this decline accelerates.
To avoid what increasingly looks like San Francisco’s doomed fate, Canadian politicians must address the root of the problem and stop the middle class’ exodus from cities. The only way to do this is by restoring affordability to the housing market.
San Francisco and the Bay Area are home to many of not just America’s, but the world’s, wealthiest companies and witnessed one of the most rapid real estate price escalations on the continent. The urban area counts 285,000 millionaires, 629 centi-millionaires and 63 billionaires — the highest number of any U.S. city.
However, it also has the highest income inequality in the country, and just eight households have more wealth than the bottom 50 per cent of its population put together. One per cent of the population, totalling approximately 38,000 residents, are homeless — a staggering number in contrast to an average of 0.2 per cent across America.
Middle-class families have been fleeing the city for years thanks to its unaffordability and, in particular, lack of middle-income housing. Teachers left in droves when they could no longer afford homes, and so did other essential workers like nurses.
High real estate prices and a dearth of “missing middle” housing has also chased middle-class families, young professionals and essential workers out of Canadian cities at ever-quickening rates. The surge in home prices over the last few years drove urban wealth gaps to unprecedented highs.
The ones who remain find themselves squeezed to the limit. Just one disturbing statistic: 33 per cent of Daily Bread Food Bank users work full-time jobs.
While the destruction of the middle class in Canadian cities has become near impossible to ignore over the last several years, in reality, it’s been happening for well over a decade. The only question now is whether we can prevent a prolonged doom loop from taking hold.
A disappearing middle class directly ties into almost every other crisis downtowns face. Obvious consequences include homelessness, drug abuse and crime. Brain drain and labour shortages in key sectors follow. These then spur broader economic decline, empty downtown cores and transit cuts. Repeat the cycle.
While perhaps the U.S. can still thrive without a healthy San Francisco, it’s harder to make the case that Canada still thrives if Vancouver and Toronto, or a combination of other major economic engines, fail. Here, it’s easy to imagine localized doom loops become sweeping doom vortexes.
We must stop the cycle by protecting what’s left of the middle class in Canadian cities and their surrounding areas across the country— and that starts with fixing housing.
National Post
