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May 11, 2012
Concern hits close to home
Experts, residents meet to consider affordable housing options.
JAN LEE
What is the future of housing in Vancouver, and how do we ensure that at least some of it is affordable for everyone? A room of nearly 100 Vancouver residents considered this question Wednesday night during the panel presentation Bricks and Mortar or Rent Subsidies, Future Directions in Affordable Housing Forum. The forum, which was spearheaded by Tikvah Housing Society and supported by the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver and 10 other community organizations, was held at the Peretz Centre for Secular Jewish Culture. It was Tikvah’s third forum on housing issues to be held in the city.
A panel of four experts, ranging in expertise from economics to housing for disabled residents, was on hand to discuss the topic. Penny Gurstein, director of the University of British Columbia’s School of Community and Regional Planning and the Centre for Human Settlements, served as moderator, and asked the panelists and audience to help Tikvah determine the most efficient path to take for providing affordable housing.
“The question of [whether we go with] bricks and mortar, or rent subsidies, is very important for our housing society,” said housing development director Susana Cogan, who runs the 18-year-old nonprofit agency. She explained that while Tikvah has been successful in implementing affordable housing at the 11-unit Dany Guincher House in Marpole, the organization has been unable to move forward with expansions.
According to Cogan, in 2008, Tikvah was given a gift of $1 million to purchase another building. Though it was a generous gift, the organization still found itself in the same position many of its tenants have experienced – unable to afford housing in Greater Vancouver.
“We went to the City of Vancouver, we worked with Richmond developers that were supposed to have units within their development for affordable housing, [but] that didn’t work out either,” said Cogan.
Recently, they have joined forces with the Katherine Sanford Housing Society (KS), which provides housing for individuals with mental illness.
“[We] still can’t find a building, even though we have substantial equity,” said Cogan.
Most recently, Tikvah has committed $30,000 of the $1 million to provide short-term subsidies for 28 low-income households. She acknowledged that the subsidies don’t offer a perfect fix, as they don’t help the chronically impoverished who need long-term housing. So Cogan turned to the presenters and audience to find out which option was best.
If there was any consensus in the room, it was that there was value in both approaches: they each helped fill a unique need.
Tim Wade, a developer who currently serves as the chief executive officer for Habitat for Humanity of Greater Vancouver (HH), supports building rather than subsidizing. Wade is best known for pioneering affordable housing in Whistler, where real estate values are beyond reach of the average working resident.
“[The Whistler affordable] housing is for all the people who are … keeping our community going,” said Wade. The project demonstrates success because the units “still turn over today at affordable prices.”
Recent HH projects include a high-rise in Vancouver on Cordova Street, where developers have committed four units to HH-sponsored housing.
“My answer is bricks and mortar. I think we need to build,” said Wade. “We need housing…. The reality is, we have a shortage of housing, and we’ve got a lot of people coming. We’re not talking about 1,000 units or 10,000 units, we’re talking about tens of thousands of units.”
KS executive director Bonnie Rice said she felt both options need to be on the table when it comes to providing resources for individuals with mental illness.
“I think one of the biggest issues we’re facing … is supply,” said Rice, who conceded, “without supply you are not going to have affordability.
“There is no one solution…. It really takes a variety of approaches and partnerships to try to achieve affordability.”
Cantor Michael Zoosman, who sits on Tikvah’s board as a representative of the Rabbinical Association of Vancouver and who has counseled individuals with mental illness who are for one reason or another homeless, also supports the need for more housing. Zoosman wasn’t able to attend the forum, but said the need for housing for the mentally ill is real and very timely.
“I think [housing] will continue to be an increasing problem,” said Zoosman in an interview, adding that the closure of Riverview Hospital has exacerbated the need for housing for mentally ill individuals. He noted that it is a significant Jewish value to stand up for those who cannot speak up for themselves, and appreciated Tikvah’s effort in spearheading this forum.
“Institutions like Tikvah live that Jewish value,” said Zoosman.
Tsuriel (Tsur) Somerville, who serves as director of UBC’s Centre for Urban Economics and Real Estate, put the question in economic terms that abstract from the human level. He said he appreciated the presentation that had been given by Dany Guincher resident Michael Goodhart about what it was like to live at Guincher House. However, when talking about funding, said Somerville, “what we are talking about is giving people money.” He noted that providing money in the form of vouchers doesn’t always mean that they will use it for housing. Nevertheless, he agreed that such subsidies can oftentimes serve to empower individuals.
“You have to ask yourself what your objective is,” he said: whether it is to ensure they are better off, or demand that they have a certain level of housing.
He also said that it is important to make sure an income problem is not mistaken for a housing problem. “From an economist’s perspective, the extent to which you have a housing problem is only an issue if the supply of housing is restricted,” otherwise, he said, it is “an income problem, not a housing problem.”
His advice? “Figure out who you want to help.” He admitted these were tough questions, and that the answers depend on a community’s priorities.
Nathan Edelson, senior partner at 42nd Street Consulting, chose both approaches as the answer and threw in a third: community building. He used the development of the Joyce-Collingwood Station and the neighborhood that it reinforced as an example. The community spirit wasn’t just a coincidence, he said: careful community planning gave it “a sense of ongoing community development” and determination.
In his view, community amenities and Vancouver’s ability to meet its 1988 affordable housing commitment (in which the promise was made to dedicate 20 percent to affordable housing throughout the city) must be met.
“What kind of city does that? I’d say a city we’re all proud to live in,” he said.
Comments from listeners ranged the gamut. Elka Yarlowe, who lives at Dany Guincher and identified herself as disabled, questioned the sense of community in affordable housing buildings.
Eva Wadolna suggested that there are other affordable housing models that can be explored (i.e., in Europe), that don’t come with a negative stigma and where “spiritual wellbeing” is considered a part of the larger picture.
After the discussion, Cogan said that she thought the forum would help Tikvah to draw up a plan of action in the coming weeks.
Jan Lee is the topic editor and a feature writer for Suite101.com’s Judaism section (jan-lee.suite101.com). Her articles on Northwest history, travel and culture have been published in Canada, the United States, Britain and Australia.
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