Category: Insight

A few afternoons ago, gunshots woke me from an intentionally meditative state. Only they weren’t gunshots, as it took me a nanosecond to realize, but the sound of someone’s vehicle entering our building garage, driving over a tube-encased door control mechanism as it did so. I’ve lived here for several years now and the noise seldom bothers me, but it would if I lived over, below, or next to the garage. Fortunately, our building was designed and constructed such that no one does, and as a noise both air- and structure-borne, that unsettling bang-bang would be truly nightmarish if anyone did.

British Colombia is known nationally and beyond not only for its abundant natural beauty, but the real estate prices—the highest in Canada—that beauty inspires and enables. This holds particularly true for large urban centres such as Vancouver and Victoria, where owning a detached house remains out of reach for most middle class people. So it’s easy to understand how condominium (or strata) living presents a more accessible alternative. My husband and I live in the second Vancouver condo we’ve owned in the many years we’ve lived here and can attest to numerous advantages strata living offers, which, aside from relative affordability, include shared property maintenance costs and freedom from responsibilities like shovelling what little snow falls here.