Blogroll - August 16

This week's Blogroll includes:

• Hotel Employees March
• Corporate Domination on No 3 Road
• Housing Prices on the Rise in '07

Hotel Employees March

" Vancouver Room Attendants Push for Better Conditions "
From Vacant Ready Blog by Chris Clarke

Blogger Chris Clarke keeps Vancouver up to date on the hotel business in his blog on the Vacant Ready site: “100% occupied by hotel people”. In this post he reports on a recent march by Vancouver hotel employees, calling for a “middle class standard of living” and safer working conditions.

Excerpt:

“I have always been an advocate for the fact that hotel room attendants have one of the most difficult jobs in a hotel. During my career I worked in top levels of housekeeping management in three luxury hotel properties, and was responsible for housekeeping indirectly as a director of operations. During that time I was very concerned about the workloads and the quality of life of our employees, and I often championed solutions to our work-load challenges. Every hotelier in Vancouver is concerned about this issue--it’s part of the operating culture of virtually every major hotel in the city.”
~Posted on August 15, 2007

Corporate Domination on No 3 Road

"http://stephenrees.wordpress.com/2007/08/12/businesses-pack-their-bags/ " title=" Businesses Pack Their Bags"> Businesses Pack Their Bags "
From Stephen Rees' Blog by Stephen Rees

In this blog about urban transport, Stephen Rees looks critically at a recent story in Richmond News discussing the probable changes that Canada Line construction will bring about in Richmond. Rees, taking exception to what he sees as the story's inference that business will boom once the line is complete, argues that former small businesses are likely going to be replaced by corporations, affecting the overall character of the area.

Excerpt:

“I suspect that what we will see will be the gradual homogenization into corporate domination. The “no place anywhere” kind of feeling you get when you drive through Langley or Surrey and realize it really doesn’t matter where you go because there is no longer any real choice. It just the same chains and franchises as everywhere else. Yaohan and Aberdeen will continue to do well, of that there is no doubt. But the smaller scale, individual businesses, which have been an important part of the functioning of the city will have gone.”
~Posted August 10, 2007

Housing Prices on the Rise in '07

"Vancouver House Prices to Rise"
From Chinese in Vancouver

This blog post directly quotes the CMHC Housing Market Outlook for the third quarter in 2007, providing Vancouverites with very optimistic news. The report anticipates that Vancouver housing prices will go up 11.7% in 2007 and 6.3% in 2008.

Excerpt:

“Income growth, a tight labour market and high levels of consumer confidence will help to offset the dampening effect of rising mortgage rates on the demand for new and existing homes in British Columbia. The result will be a high, stable level of resale activity in 2007, rising home prices and a slight decline in new home construction compared to last year.”
~Posted August 15, 2007