and, then there's stuff like this.

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-1-bedroom-apartments-condos/windsor-area-on/basement-apt-for-rent/1376905430?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true

this apartment has been relisted repeatedly since at least may.

it's literally the guy's half-finished basement.

now, what kind of person with a job wants to live in a space like that? for $750/month?

you could get a nice apartment for $1000/month. and, minimum wage, nowadays is over $2000/month.

it would be great for a teenager, perhaps. and, it's the ideal space for somebody on longterm disability. but who wants to go to work all day to live in somebody's basement?

so, the landlord is just a complete fucking idiot...

the reason it's maddening is what it's leaving open. no matter how you parse this through, this landlord's right-wing stupidity is directly responsible for somebody sleeping on the street.

and, yeah, that pisses me off.

when we talk about abolishing private property, when we talk about how property is theft, this is a good demonstration of the point.

that property owner is stealing a home from somebody.

i mean, i can try, right?

if i can't get anybody to bite, i'll have to move, instead.

i may see some cuts myself.

so, i think i can budget for a year.

and, i think i can be honest in pointing out that the situation is chaotic right now - and almost impossible to plan around.

and, how many of these idiots voted for this, anyways?

"but he wanted to get rid of sex ed."

"and the other one was the gay."

in windsor, especially...

if they cut welfare by 25%? the rent is going to have to come down by 20%, anyways.

eventually.

not everywhere, but in certain units...

maybe i can find a little box up in the sky to watch it from for a few months.

so, cutting social assistance means reducing rent.

get it?

i mean, any critique of social assistance of any kind has to be undertaken in the context of understanding that almost all of this money ends up in the pockets of rentiers.

maybe ford can even direct some of that money away from welfare and towards subsidized housing, so it's not just padding the bank accounts of property owners, at the expense of availability...

i wouldn't count on that.

what i'm thinking is that there will be a lot more vacancies this time next year, once ford has pushed through those cuts.

it's very sad and everything, but the feds need to build more affordable housing, not saturate the market with refugees overpaying for substandard housing, with welfare.

we have space. we don't have infrastructure...

yeah.

ok.

i'm going to start thinking about strategizing around the next year, by actually increasing the amount of rent i can pay out, by appealing to my savings.

they're making an announcement nov 8th.

if i plan for a year, 1230 + 3500/12 = 1521. 1521 - 270 = $1252.

that's a lot more, isn't it?

even at $1000, total expenses for the year become 1270*12 = 15240 < 18252, and by quite a bit.

i'm going to have to find somebody reasonable, of course.

but what i've learned is that the vacancies actually open up quite substantively when you increase the rent just that extra little bit, because nobody wants the midlevel housing they're building around here....

it's the only category where prices are actually coming DOWN.

if i can talk them into a year lease, with the intent of plotting further courses next year...

there's just not another no smoking option, around here. and, like i say - they can't rent these units.

the reality is that the best thing that could happen - from my perspective - is to see them hold disability rates steady, while cutting welfare rates, specifically welfare rates for families.

i noticed a spike in vacancies near the university after the saudi announcement. that is good news...

....& the fact is that cutting welfare rates is something that would open up a lot of housing options in this city.

this is the nature of capitalism: i'm competing over housing with people due to a deficit of supply, which means i'm hoping them harm, to better my standing. that's how this system operates.

About 40 per cent of immigrants to Windsor are refugees, compared to 15 per cent for Ontario and 12 per cent for Canada.

i'm sorry, but i don't think this bodes well for the region. as 30% are immigrants, that means 10% of the population is refugees. and these are 2016 numbers...


Iraq is the place of birth for 20.2 per cent of immigrants coming to Windsor between 2011 and 2016, while Syria represents 10.5 per cent, and the United States 8.6 per cent. China and India are next, tied at 7.9 per cent.

the indian number has definitely gone up recently.

i don't need or even want to live in whitetown. but, these are the structural refugees - the lifers. & they're just adding to an existing situation of widespread structural poverty...

this city is the place that is least able to deal with this, yet it is absorbing the problem, disproportionately.

the reality is that we're on a one-way ticket to bankruptcy. the refugees aren't at fault for this, but they will tip the scales on it...

if i leave, it will be because i can't find a smoke-free apartment. august was brutal, but the vacancy rate seems to be opening up a bit, and i suspect the market will open quite a bit in september. the refugee situation is clearly creating unwanted market pressure from a tenancy perspective, however it's only one of a few different things happening. right now, it seems like the biggest factor is the international students. but, i may look back at this as an escape from an impending social mess.

there's no tax base, here.

it doesn't make any sense.

https://windsorstar.com/news/local-news/2016-census-windsors-population-is-27-8-per-cent-immigrant