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Comment by Para2016 | Hacker News Reader

Para2016·

They borrowed heavily. Are you really getting upset over "cash-strapped"?

How about you just look up the definition of this phrase?

I think that colloquially we consider "cash-strapped" to mean significantly lower on funds than the authors were. You're not cash strapped if you have borrowed; by definition you are no longer low on funds. A minor point in the article, regardless.

On the actual content of the article: Is the housing market really this bad in Canada? My SO has been pushing for us to consider moving there (Toronto, Vancouver) after school but the more I learn the more I am content living somewhere with a low cost of living.

Another thing that does bother me: This seems like classic gentrification. Is there some fund in Toronto that goes towards the lower income/homeless folk who get displaced by these sorts of situations?

I moved from Europe, so I probably have a mildly more communist view ;-), but I'm appalled by Toronto's city government inability to do what I'd call table stakes beyond picking up the garbage - public transport and public housing. Neither seems to be going anywhere, and I have no clue whether it's finance ("we will not raise property taxes" is often heard), unions that frustrate everything, incompetent leadership or just outright lack of experience in running a metropolis. I love Toronto, but it sure has its share of big city problems.

Housing market wise: expect to be in the CA$750k-1m range for something that doesn't suck bad. Given the weak dollar, that's not a huge amount of money for a major city but it's rapidly rising. Myself, I'm moving to a chalet with some acres of forest shortly, 2hrs from the city, but then I can work from home almost 100%.

Toronto is a great place to live, but yeah - check your housing budget before moving here.

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