During the last action of the Emma Goldman Collective, the one in solidarity with
the evicted from the Chicoutimi bus station squat, a poorly housed person fromthe city center told me about the situation of renoviction that he wasexperiencing in his accommodation. For him, the affordable housing crisis inSaguenay had multiple sources, including gentrification, Airbnbs and a form ofcontempt from landlords for the less well-off. I listened to him attentively evenif I told myself that this is the kind of analysis that the Collective has beenbroadcasting for several years, an analysis that bears witness to the harshreality experienced in the city center. Of course, we are far from the speechesof elected officials like Mireille Jean according to which, if they are to bebelieved, the public authorities are constantly multiplying initiatives to helpthe poorly housed... On the ground, the city's contempt for the less fortunate isnevertheless experienced at all levels and on a daily basis. When their homes arein the way, they are destroyed despite their heritage status and replaced with afew more parking spaces. When their presence in shops and on commercial streetsis a nuisance, the police are systematically sent to harass them and tax themwith new tickets - that was one of the reasons for the police station's move.When their desperation and distress get in the way, new cameras are installed andpolice patrols are increased rather than strengthening the social safety net. Thepoor hinder a certain privileged class in Saguenay and gentrification becomessynonymous with hunting down the poor. In this text, I would like to explore theissue of Airbnbs in the gentrification of downtown Chicoutimi.Despite a fairly recent regulatory framework, the places that can be rented onAirbnb around the city of Saguenay number in the hundreds according to theplatform's website. A very quick search allowed me to find dozens of them in thedowntown district of Chicoutimi alone. This means that in the context of anaffordable housing crisis, landlords and property developers are making thesituation worse by preferring to rent for short periods to tourists who will paymore than to local residents. The city grants permits to owners carrying out suchtransactions through the platform of the multinational whose turnover reachesseveral billion dollars, but it does nothing to prevent the process ofdeterioration of the housing situation in the city that engenders Airbnbs. Withor without a permit granted by the city, the problems caused by Airbnbs remainthe same.In addition to removing housing from the rental stock (in favor of the touriststock), Airbnbs stimulate the increase in the cost of housing. The more availablehousing becomes scarce, the more tension is felt on the rental market. Landlordsare receiving more and more requests for their homes and have more and moreleeway to drive up housing prices, have housing accepted in appalling conditionsand carry out a discriminatory selection of their tenants (as is still the case).widespread in Saguenay). In addition, Airbnbs stimulate a medium and long-termtransformation of neighborhoods through changes in the commercial offer to suittourists who have more money to spend. This is also gentrification. "Upscale"businesses appear in working-class neighborhoods where the majority of the peoplewho live there cannot even afford the least expensive items. In the end, it isthe satisfaction of people's basic needs that is attacked with the formation offood deserts, as well as the fabric and social life of the community residing inthe neighborhoods.So what do the poorly housed people in the neighborhood want? In all humility,it's very hard to say, but broadly... We want a neighborhood to forge bonds ofsolidarity and mutual aid with the people around us, a neighborhood to seeflourish in safety and in the conviviality of children, adults and the elderly, aneighborhood to live and defend life. We do not want a neighborhood where thetransit traffic of employees in a hurry dominates the streets, a neighborhoodmuseumized by touristification where the false image is more important than thehuman, a neighborhood where the money is king and where, in indifference, peoplewho are exploited and oppressed are allowed to rot in misery and isolation.Fuck Airbnb!N.Herveby Emma Goldman Collectivehttp://ucl-saguenay.blogspot.com/2022/04/airbnb-detruit-le-centre-ville-de.html_________________________________________A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C EBy, For, and About AnarchistsSend news reports to A-infos-en mailing listA-infos-en@ainfos.ca
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten