Open Collections

Abstract

Located on the East shore of Victoria BC Upper Harbour, the Rock Bay Industrial District—the Workshop of the City—is home to a critical reservoir of living income employment, businesses and services essential to the economic health and resilience of the City. Extreme land shortage, paired with aged low-density building stock and high property taxes, have contributed to an affordability crisis threatening viability of the area. The impacts are wide reaching: forcing anchor businesses to migrate regionally, depleting the area’s diversity and development confidence. This highly constrained environment places enormous pressure on small businesses to maintain viability for the area, resulting in inflation, renovictions, and potential large-scale future rezoning.