New To The Neighbourhood

Few can afford to buy dirt these days. Neighbourhoods are now concrete towers. To own your own house and property unless you are in the higher earning brackets, is close to impossible. About the only way most families can own their own homes in  major cities, is to take on huge mortgages that are subject to, not only lifetime terms, but also, that are inclined to increase annually. The pattern is, when the kids are off on their own, Mom and Pop sell the inflation valued "golden egg" they are sitting on, and  buy into a condominium stowing the rest of the cash into some kind of "jam can" of their choice. And while banks grow profits,  investors struggle to meet ever-increasing costs that cause condo towers to become the best way to handle retirement market funds. It is a question of up  into the sky, rather than out in the back yard. When you take on ownership of a condo, neighbourhoods change from being a friendly stretch of green lawn and chatty driveway visits, to a series of hallway hellos, socials and Condo Council meetings. You are no longer the kings of your castle but merely the holder of a vote card with a number on it. Your key to the kingdom is a fob button. You elect a council and trust that they will act, as they are deemed to do, in your best interests so that you can hie off in a cruise ship or plane to warm drinky, dressy, foody vacations. As they say, lock and go. Neighbourhoods are no longer horizontal, they become vertical. Hierarchies develop in these tower neighbourhoods. And when that happens, so do factions that arise out of  discontent whether righteous or not. Most Councils in condos manage to step over their personal sensitivities and remain professional in their demeanor but some behave as children on school recess break and call names, gossip and don't speak to each other. I've been in six strata developments and have seen all kinds of silly behaviours. At the same time, I have seen perfectly diligent volunteers on councils, who are the best kinds of neighbours in any sense of the word. The latter inform their fellows or neighbours fully. They communicate with the people they have taken on as their responsibility. They opt for the most democratic means they can find to meet the needs of their electors. They are volunteers and give up huge parts of their own private lives to take on the job of directing the hired management as well as dealing with all of the massive issues that condos produce. It ain't easy folks! Condos are masses of owner residents, often well over hundreds in high towers, and each family in the units is unique. The whole key to peace is for every last one of these individuals who own the building together, to read and if possible, memorize The Strata Act. For some reason, very intelligent, well-educated people can become donkeys when it comes to the matter of power. Some can handle it and others simply cannot. Some Councils, because of the nature of the financial responsibility, forget that they are dealing with human beings and not coinage. What matters in condos is, of course, the building, but more so, the people. The Strata Act is logical and easy to understand, but often newcomers to condos just do not read the find print. Even some Councils don't, and it is imperative for them to be well-versed in the law, to keep peace in the condo sphere.  I congratulate all Council members in all condos. If they can keep the peace, and do it well, they have to be almost superhuman!