On Sept. 5, your headline story, “Students struggle with housing market”, was of particular interest to me. I have been offering student rooms for a very long time – 30 years in Vancouver and 10 in Victoria. I enjoy having students and do my best to offer value and quality.
Of special interest to me in my current location, was an omission of a major part of the problem in Victoria. Transit. We live on a direct route to UVic along McKenzie Avenue. However, there is no consistent, reliable bus. Yes students can go into town and transfer or walk to Tillicum Mall, again catching a lengthy bus ride to campus.
If the transit system in Victoria was more comprehensive, affordable and user-friendly (and I am referring to scheduling and routing, not the drivers, who are exceptional), the opportunity for housing by students would not be restricted to areas close the the university. I am quite sure there would be more housing availability in a more wide spread community.
Sharon Bool
Victoria
