Spending 30 years writing for community newspapers means sitting through a lot of (painful) city council meetings and public hearings.

That also means listening to a lot of (painful) NIMBYs complaining about any housing ideas that involve density higher than a single-detached house.

It could be modular housing to get people off the streets or just adding a tiny laneway house on a property B次元官网网址� it doesnB次元官网网址檛 matter, these folks will be against it.

This is how it normally sounds: B次元官网网址淚 support new housing B次元官网网址� but not here B次元官网网址� and not like this.B次元官网网址�

Rinse, repeat.

And for many decades, cowardly city politicians have given in to this pearl clutching about a loss of parking spots or a taller building adding B次元官网网址渟hadeB次元官网网址� to a homeownerB次元官网网址檚 backyard.

Here locally we saw this hand-wringing over a proposed three-storey, 25-unit townhome development at Rainbow Street and Sevenoaks Road in Saanich.

The project is a small step towards offering missing middle options in Saanich, but that didnB次元官网网址檛 stop NIMBYs from protesting.

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Yes, a whopping 25 townhomes sparked an anguished outcry about how they would destroy the neighbourhood.

B次元官网网址淭he community is not opposed to development,B次元官网网址� said one resident, who proceeded to oppose this development. B次元官网网址淲e are simply asking for a development and density in harmony with the functionality of the area and the surrounding delicate, precious ecosystems.B次元官网网址�

I just moved to Victoria from Metro Vancouver, where people would laugh at the idea of protesting 25 townhomes. That region doesnB次元官网网址檛 see developments even close to being that small.

And then there is Victoria, which just passed its missing middle housing proposal a process akin to the Bataan death march.

B次元官网网址淭he initiativeB次元官网网址檚 main goal is to boost the supply of family-suitable, ground-oriented homes that fall between single-family dwellings and larger apartments,B次元官网网址� is how our Victoria B次元官网网址 story described it. B次元官网网址淰ictoriaB次元官网网址檚 approved proposal amends zoning on lots that currently only allow single-family homes to also permit corner townhomes, houseplexes and some infill housing on heritage-worthy properties to be built. The city has called the initiative one tool in its 40-part housing strategy.B次元官网网址�

I try not to hack on other media outlets, but I saw one Victoria publication call the plan B次元官网网址渄ivisiveB次元官网网址� in a headline and that riled me up. Calling it B次元官网网址渄ivisiveB次元官网网址� gives NIMBYs far too much weight in whining about new housing.

Anybody can complain about something B次元官网网址� social media has only made that worse. Just because a few people show up to yell at a city council meeting doesnB次元官网网址檛 mean that a bold plan to add housing is B次元官网网址渄ivisive.B次元官网网址�

I support free speech, but I also support trying to ease our housing crisis. And we need to keep calling it a crisis because thatB次元官网网址檚 what it is. We have failed our young people with terrible policies, leaving them unable to afford most housing.

They are now struggling mightily simply to afford any kind of housing. My own daughter (sheB次元官网网址檚 24) lives with five other people in a rotting old house because thatB次元官网网址檚 what it takes to have an affordable rent.

Too many owners of single-detached houses B次元官网网址� often people who bought them for relative peanuts decades ago B次元官网网址� have theirs and will put up any roadblocks to prevent anything new near them.

Some B.C. politicians are finally growing some courage and ignoring the NIMBYs.

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Chris Campbell is an editor in Victoria with Black Press Media. You can follow him on Twitter or Instagram @shinebox44.