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Housing for All: support abundant, safe and welcoming housing choices¶
The more I learn about the climate crisis and the housing crisis I can't unsee the solution: better-located, less car-dependent communities.¶
It is critical that we curb urban sprawl and build in and not out. We can have better buildings and better communities through innovations such as point access blocks, green ecodistricts, and much more.
We can solve the nationwide housing shortage while dramatically cutting pollution. Study after study confirm that land use reform must be a priority climate lever for North America. (https://rmi.org/why-state-land-use-reform-should-be-a-priority-climate-lever-for-america/) I wrote about this at michaeljanz.ca/curbsprawl
Learn more about curbing urban sprawl via substantial completion from my colleague Councillor Salvador:
https://www.ashleysalvador.com/post/guiding-growth-for-complete-communities
Learn more about Zoning Bylaw Renewal from her as well:
https://www.ashleysalvador.com/post/revamping-the-rulebook-zoning-bylaw-renewal
Learn about the public engagement process from my colleague Councillor Hamilton:
https://www.sarahhamilton.ca/post/zone-on-dig-in-sort-out
We are in a global affordable housing crisis, and Edmonton must take steps to ensure we don't follow the same path as other cities such as Victoria, Vancouver and Toronto.¶
Even if you own your own home, it is increasingly harder and harder to imagine what housing options will be available to your children or grandchildren. Since 1980, home prices have escalated 400% while real disposable incomes have only risen 100% (Polling Canada). With questions about a looming real estate bubble, many young adults are even wondering if home ownership is a sound investment.
Too many of our neighbours are experiencing housing instability while Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITS) are siphoning profits out of the global housing market (check out the TVO documentary: PUSH).
We are also in need of housing choices for all ages, abilities, and stages of life. That could mean housing for you or your parents as they age.
Are we offering choices for those who wish to downsize?¶
And there is much more to be done for inclusive and welcoming housing. If you had a friend who used a wheelchair, could they come for dinner at your home? Visitable homes includes a few design modifications so that anyone can enter and access the main floor of a home without obstacles. Learn more: https://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/professionals/industry-innovation-and-leadership/industry-expertise/accessible-adaptable-housing/accessible-housing-by-design/visitable-homes
As this page develops, I'll be sharing more information about the spectrum of housing from our dire need for permanent supportive housing to fixed-income affordability, to increasing housing supply to fair taxation on mansions. Please sign up for email updates and for invitations to future meetings.
Let's talk about non-market housing:¶
We deserve more options than renting money from a bank or floor space from a landlord. Non-market housing such as co-op housing or public housing help curb the excesses of the market.
One of my favourite models is co-op and non-market housing alternatives, such as co-ops or urban co-housing. Here in Edmonton, there are a number of opportunities, although sometimes wait lists can be daunting. The Breach wrote about the growth of the Co-op housing movement in the 1970s:
‘An affordable and democratic alternative’ to the private market
The 1970s and the 1980s were a unique time when governments of various political stripes were open to experimentation in housing. That included co-ops like Greenhill, which were geared for families and singles living on different incomes.
Starting in about 1974, the federal government began underwriting the construction of co-op housing across Canada. The funding of housing co-ops was pushed by the NDP, led by David Lewis, which was holding the balance of power in Parliament. The new co-op program continued after the Liberals returned to their majority two years later.
Bob Luker, a retired Toronto community college professor, recalls that easy access to federal money in this time period led to the nurturing of a social movement for co-ps.
Activists came onboard from labour movements, socially conscious churches, anti-poverty groups and Indigenous rights, said Luker, who managed the Neill Wycik student co-op in downtown Toronto in the 1970s. "So, we had one of those moments when things come together."
All shared the concept that co-op housing could be provided on a non-profit basis to ordinary people without the involvement of speculators seeking to make a return on their real estate investment.
Another initiative growing in popularity that is challenging the traditional housing market is home share, or billeting. Learn more about a special home-share program to help seniors age in place, Canada Homeshare: https://www.michaeljanz.ca/helping_seniors_age_in_place_through_canada_homeshare
Let's talk affordable housing:¶
For ideological reasons, the provincial government is not providing adequate mental health support, shelters, or other supports– creating a hellscape of human suffering as financially foolish as it is cruel. Homelessness doubled during the pandemic, trapping many in a cycle of survival, addiction, trauma and suffering. In lieu of housing, we get expensive emergency room visits and incarceration at far higher human and financial costs. Last year there were record numbers of amputations due to frostbite.
https://youtu.be/90h42s9ifls
Housing the unhoused is central to health care. Housing is the most dignified and cost-effective solution to social disorder. Edmonton must provide catalyst funding and bring every willing partner to the table centered on a "housing is a human right" approach.
Let's talk about better urban planning:¶
It is not only the kinds of housing types, but also their locations. Urban sprawl costs the city enormously and leads to increased taxes. Each expansion leads to more costs for road maintenance, snow removal, waste management, and cutting the grass. The footprint of the city has doubled, and so will our costs to service.
We must rigorously pursue a more compact urban form, curbing urban sprawl, building up and not out. We can have smarter infill for better communities with meaningful engagement, improving enforcement and holding bad actors accountable.
Land use planning is intrinsically linked to transportation planning, and both play a key role in reducing our greenhouse gas emissions and building a sustainable city for everyone.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtuOKLI9ef8
Let's talk about renters rights:¶
Given the fact that 37% of Edmontonians rent, we must do more to offer protection and support for renters. Just south of us, many Calgarians experienced massive rent hikes, some as high as 20%. I've already heard about a number of "renovations" this year in Edmonton, including Learn more about my efforts to demand a fair deal for renters at www.michaeljanz.ca/renters
Background:¶
Housing justice is climate justice¶
Book: Homelessness is a housing problem:
https://homelessnesshousingproblem.com/
Using accessible statistics, the researchers test a range of conventional beliefs about what drives the prevalence of homelessness in a given city—including mental illness, drug use, poverty, weather, generosity of public assistance, and low-income mobility—and find that none explain why, for example, rates are so much higher in Seattle than in Chicago. Instead, housing market conditions, such as the cost and availability of rental housing, offer a more convincing explanation.
INDIVIDUAL VULNERABILITIES LIKE POVERTY DON'T EXPLAIN REGIONAL VARIATION.