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Vancouver’s housing crisis is the “new normal.” This has profound political implications, which have already shaken up Vancouver’s politics.

Prior to the crisis, successful municipal politicians usually catered to the NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) crowd, those reflexively opposed to building new housing.

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Since the 1920s, Vancouver has reserved more than 75 per cent of its residential land for single-family homes to keep the NIMBYs happy.

This zoning was originally designed to keep “ethnics” and the poor away from most neighbourhoods, especially on the West Side.

Fast forward to today.

On Vancouver’s downtown peninsula, where density has always been allowed, it’s starting to feel like a mini-Manhattan, but most of the rest of the city remains stubbornly suburban, causing this crisis.

Even if measures aimed at curbing demand soften the market significantly, virtually no young person now has any hope to own a piece of Vancouver.